4 Healthy Fats to eat

For years we were told to eat a diet that is low in fat if we wanted to lose weight. Many of us switched to low fat foods that were often high in sugar, salt, and simple carbohydrates. And instead of getting thinner and healthier, there is more obesity and diabetes now than when the low-fat craze started decades ago. It turns out that fat is not the enemy.

Our bodies require a moderate amount of certain kinds of dietary fat to absorb Vitamins A, E, and D, and for the nervous system to function properly. According to studies done at Harvard University lowering overall fat intake does not help people lose weight or prevent heart disease. Rather, it is the overall calorie intake and the type of fat eaten that matters, according to recent research.

Some fats, such as saturated fat and trans fat (sometimes called partially hydrogenated vegetable oil), can cause weight gain and contribute to heart disease and a host of other illnesses. But polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats actually reduce the risk of heart disease and can prevent belly fat from forming. The Mayo clinic recommends that 20 to 35% of your daily calorie intake should come from fat, and two thirds of that should be unsaturated fat.

These unsaturated fats help build high-density lipoproteins (HDL), the type of cholesterol that is considered healthy for the body. HDL clears the blood stream and arteries of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), the so-called “bad” cholesterol that clogs arteries and can lead to heart disease. In addition to the health benefits, including the right amount of these kinds of fats at every meal helps the body feel more full because they digest slowly and increase absorption of the nutrients in the rest of your food, meaning you are likely to take in fewer calories overall. Here are a few healthy fats you can enjoy in moderation.

Avocados
Avocados are a high-density food packed with nutrients, including 20 necessary vitamins and minerals such as Vitamins C, E, and K, thiamine, potassium, and fiber. The fat in avocados is over 75% monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, and it combines synergistically with the fiber and other nutrients in avocados for maximum assimilation. In both taste and nutrient content avocados blend especially well with dark leafy greens like kale, spinach, and arugula, helping us get the goods from the greens and feel truly satisfied by a salad.

Salmon and Other Cold Water Fish
Fatty cold-water fish, such as wild salmon and mackerel, are the highest source of omega-3 essential fatty acids. These acids, called “essential” because our bodies do not produce them so they must be obtained through food, can prevent heart disease, clear triglycerides (“bad fat”) from the body, and may help with other conditions such as inflammation, rheumatoid arthritis, and depression. The most important omega-3s, DHA and EPA, are only found in cold-water, fatty fish, and some algae. These fish are also a great source of lean protein. While there is the potential for contamination by mercury or environmental toxins in some fish, the health benefits of a small portion of wild fish outweigh the potential dangers. Note that the omega-3s are only present in wild, fatty, cold-water fish, not farmed.

Olive Oil
Olives and their oil have been a staple in central European diets for thousands of years, for good reason. They are low in calories and contain mostly the cholesterol shifting monounsaturated fat. Olive oil is unstable when heated, so it is best to use it on salads or only in low-heat cooking.

Nuts and Seeds
Raw nuts and seeds also contain mostly unsaturated fat and high amounts of protein. They are an easy and healthful snack, and like the other unsaturated fats contain vital vitamins and minerals. Flax seeds contain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, and chia seeds are the highest vegetarian source of omega-3s. Almonds are the only nuts, and one of few protein sources, that are alkalinizing to the body. Monounsaturated fats are unstable and break down at high heat, so choose raw nuts, not roasted ones. Most raw nuts and seeds need to be processed in some way to break down the enzyme inhibitors they contain that inhibit digestion. Flax seeds need to be ground and soaked and all nuts except Brazil need to be soaked for 6 to 12 hours.

The key with fat intake, and any sustainable diet, is moderation. Enjoy a handful of almonds as a snack, half of an avocado with lunch, and a few tablespoons of olive oil with dinner, and you will be getting a good dose of the healthy fats that can help you in you efforts to lose weight and be healthy.

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7 Healthy Drinks to Awaken the Body

We all know the importance of a well-balanced breakfast; whole grains, fruits and proteins give us the fuel we need for the day ahead. However, a healthy beverage early in the AM can also help wake us up and provide valuable energy and nutrition that will last long beyond rush hour.

And while you can’t put pure sunshine in a glass, check out these 7 tasty, energizing and easy-to-prepare morning drinks

1. Water

Start simple- one glass of filtered water when you wake up can increase your alertness, improve your decision-making ability and promote better blood circulation and higher oxygen levels. Adequate water intake also enhances mood and eliminates signs of dehydration (so you won’t look as tired!). Remember, the human body and its vital organs require at least 64 fluid ounces of water per day- so begin in the right direction.

2. Coconut Water

Coconut water contains an abundance of energizing vitamins and minerals and is well regarded for its range of health benefits: coconut water hydrates a dehydrated body and balances electrolyte levels; coconut water works to remove harmful toxins from the body; and it helps balance the digestive systems due to its anti-fungal, anti-microbial and anti-viral properties. Great for beginning your day in health!

3. Smoothies

Fresh fruit and vegetables help re-energize the body at any time of day, so why not begin your morning with a fruit/veggie smoothie? Popular breakfast-time smoothie ingredients are: strawberries, melons, mangos, bananas, yogurt, citrus fruits, eggs, spinach and almonds, among many others. If you have a blender, your smoothie can be ready in a minute or less, perfect for grab-and-go before your commute.

4. Hot Green Tea with Honey and Lemon

Green tea is a great alternative to high-caffeine coffee drinks that helps you wake up without overloading your system. Green tea contains an abundance of antioxidants that fight cell damage, helps to lower cholesterol levels and improves blood circulation and works to stabilize blood glucose levels and protects brain cells from free radical damage. Green tea is also said to relax the nervous system… helping you start your day in peace and calm.

5. Pure Orange Juice (Not from Concentrate!)

Drink at least eight ounces of 100 percent pure orange juice as an early AM energizing beverage. Orange juice has an abundance of vitamin C, which produces hemoglobin- an agent that carries oxygen to all the body’s vital organs. The sharp citrus taste of pure OJ also helps enliven your senses, waking you to the day ahead.

6. Bee Pollen with Pure Honey

Bee pollen is a newly popular “superfood” commonly mixed with other breakfast items such as oatmeal and porridge. It contains amino acids and essential fatty acids, great for early morning energy, and it can be mixed with water (or any other liquid) along with natural honey for great taste.

7. Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple cider vinegar is overbearingly strong by itself, but when diluted within seltzer or pure water this substance makes a stimulating beverage full of minerals, vitamins and probiotics. Try a few drops mixed with black tea to add some nutritious punch to your normal beverage routine.

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A jog in the park won’t cure serious depression

A study of over-prescription for depression and anxiety deserves analysis because it contains a mix of truth… and hidden agendas

 

GPs are turning us into a nation of pill-poppers, according to shock headlines last week. The research, commissioned by the charity Nuffield Health, found that GPs are 46 times more likely to prescribe medication for depression and anxiety ”rather than recommend other, medically proven alternatives such as exercise’’.

This feeds in nicely to the social narrative surrounding primary care: that GPs are too busy and harassed to listen and are only interested in pushing us out of the door clutching a prescription to keep us quiet. Dr Davina Deniszczyc, the medical director of Nuffield Health, said: ”The compelling evidence that physical activity can play an important role in both treating and alleviating early symptoms of mental ill health isn’t sufficiently filtering through to front-line and primary care services.’’

This study deserves a closer analysis because it contains a mix of truth… and hidden agendas. The newspaper reports indicated, correctly, that it was commissioned by a charity. But although Nuffield Health is technically a charity, it is actually a private hospital chain. It was criticised when it emerged that the group paid only £100,000 corporation tax in 2011, despite a turnover of £575 million, because of its ”charity’’ status. Its chief executive, David Mobbs, has a salary package of £860,000. It has 31 hospitals but also 60 membership gyms. So, a cynic could argue that it has a vested interest in, firstly, undermining people’s confidence in GPs and, secondly, commissioning research that promoted exercise. The study is, in essence, a nicely dressed up piece of covert marketing.

And it works as a marketing message because it does contain some truth. I should emphasise that I routinely prescribe antidepressants to patients with moderate to severe depressive illness, and they are effective. It is also true that sometimes antidepressants are prescribed to people for whom exercise would be beneficial, such as those with a mild depressive illness. But for many, their depression is so severe that the idea of a brisk jog in the park to lift their spirits is absurd. It can be a life-threatening illness that deserves prompt pharmacological intervention.

However, what the study failed to explore was why GPs were so ready to prescribe antidepressants. The real story here is about psychological therapy services. Historically, GPs have been reliant on antidepressants because access to the alternative – the ”talking therapies’’ – in the NHS is subject to very long waiting lists.

 

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The doctors concluded that many of the “cures” are a result of the placebo effect, when patients’ bodies heal themselves because the patient is convinced they have been given a miracle remedy.

“Even when people have three doctors telling them their treatment has no medical benefits, once they are in that zone, believing in their remedy, they won’t be persuaded otherwise.”

In the test, all of the people given duct tape found their verrucas shrank by at least one millimeter, whereas none of those who used surgical tape saw any difference at all.

Dr Cannon said: “I’ll certainly suggest to my patients that they give it a try if they aren’t having any success with other treatments.”

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Forget creams and ointments – duct tape really can cure verrucas

Doctors on a new Channel 4 show, Health Freaks, find homespun remedies are not all quacker

Quack remedies such as duct tape to cure verrucas and bathing in oats to cure skin complaints really can work, a panel of doctors has found.

Some sufferers of common complaints have sworn by household cures for years, which also include using the lubricant WD-40 to ease arthritis and drinking breast milk to cure infections.

They had never been put to the test until the Channel 4 programme Health Freaks, broadcast last night, carried out controlled studies on them.

Dr Ellie Cannon, a west London GP, was among the medics who assessed some of the unusual homespun treatments presented to them by advocates of the cures.

She said: “We know people do use duct tape for verrucas and we did see in the trial we did that it improved them for some. In one case the verruca went completely.”

One patient featured on the program said they had had a verruca for eight years and had been unable to shift it until they used duct tape, which finally cleared it up.

In the trial, some participants used duct tape and some used Elastoplast.

Dr Cannon said further investigation was needed to establish why duct tape was so effective as a remedy, as this remained unclear.

She added: “It’s not what we would call a consistent treatment. It doesn’t work for everyone.

“The three of us on the panel had different theories about why it was working. It might be that the tape is starving the verruca of oxygen, or it might be that the adhesive in the tape is causing an immune reaction.”

Other unusual treatments tested on the programme include breast milk to cure infections and an oat bath for the skin complaint psoriasis.

Breast milk was found to be less effective than one might expect, Dr Cannon said, while oat baths did help a little.

Another homespun remedy, using the lubricant WD-40 to treat arthritis and chest pain, was suggested by two builders but was deemed to be too unsafe to trial.

Dr Cannon said: “One of the things that surprised me was just how widespread the use of some of these remedies is. WD-40 is so widely used on building sites to treat arthritis that the manufacturers have had to put a notice on their website saying it’s not for human use.

“In years gone by the remedy might only be known within a particular family but the internet has made them much more commonly known.

“Another thing that surprised me was how prepared people are to try out remedies that could have dangerous side-effects, like drinking their own urine.”

Other remedies that the doctors were presented with included amber necklaces to cure teething trouble, copper coins to clear up styes, turmeric as an acne cure and leeches to cure deep vein thrombosis.

The doctors concluded that many of the “cures” are a result of the placebo effect, when patients’ bodies heal themselves because the patient is convinced they have been given a miracle remedy.

“Even when people have three doctors telling them their treatment has no medical benefits, once they are in that zone, believing in their remedy, they won’t be persuaded otherwise.”

In the test, all of the people given duct tape found their verrucas shrank by at least one millimeter, whereas none of those who used surgical tape saw any difference at all.

Dr Cannon said: “I’ll certainly suggest to my patients that they give it a try if they aren’t having any success with other treatments.”

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In pain? Listen to music, says pharmacy

A high street pharmacy is advising customers seeking pain relief to listen to music after a study found it can ease their symptoms.

Four in ten people living with persistent pain (41 per cent) told researchers their favourite songs helped them relax and feel better.

Pop music was found to be the most effective for 21 per cent of patients, followed by classical (17 per cent) and rock or indie (16 per cent).

The most effective songs were “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Angels” by Robbie Williams, and “Albatross” by Fleetwood Mac.

These were followed by “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John, and “Easy” by “The Commodores”.

Now Lloyds Pharmacy – which commissioned the study of 1,500 people – is piloting the recommendations at selected stores across the UK.

This includes Selfridges, in Oxford Street, central London; Jubilee Crescent, Coventry; Barton Hill Road, Torquay; and Fallowfield, Manchester.

Around ten million people in the country suffer pain most days, including back and neck pain, arthritis, joint pain, and headaches or migraines.

Music has the biggest impact on younger people, with 66 per cent of those aged 16 to 24 claiming it helps with their pain management.

Pharmacist Andrew Mawhinney, from LloydsPharmacy, said: “There are lots of different ways of managing pain, not only with medicines but also with lifestyle changes such as moderate exercise and relaxation.

“After speaking to many people who are living with pain we were interested to learn just how many found music beneficial, which is why we’re now trialing the use of music within our pain service in some of our pharmacies.”

David Bradshaw, a Research Assistant Professor at The University of Utah Pain Management Centre, said: “People in pain should try to find some activity to get fully engaged in.

“Listening to favourite music is excellent for that because it can involve both thoughts and feelings.

“No matter how anxious you may feel, if you can get absorbed in the music this can help with your pain.

“Choose music you like and know well, humming or singing along can help you engage in listening and distract you from your pain.”

Of those who listen to music to help with their pain, one third (33 per cent) do so as “often as possible” and 40 per cent chose to listen in the evenings.

Source: http://truth.co.nz

 

Overweight children should watch less television

Parents of overweight children should be told to reduce the amount of time they spend watching television and playing computer games, according to new official guidance for health workers.

Children over 12 whose weight is a concern should be encouraged to keep a diary of how much time they spend in front of the television or playing computer games each day, the health watchdog said.

Parents of younger children should carefully monitor their behavior in the same way, according to official guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).

Doing so could help parents and children form a plan to reduce their TV viewing at certain times and replace hours spent in front of a screen with a more active pastime.

The advice is one of a broad range of recommendations issued by Nice on Wednesday with the intention of tackling the “obesity time bomb” among British children.

The guidance is aimed at health workers and other professionals who provide “lifestyle weight management services” for children, but identifies families as the key to tackling the problem.

It includes advice on identifying parents who are in denial about their child’s weight, amid concerns that efforts to help children lose weight are in some cases “undermined” by family members.

Similar guidance last week recommended the use of lifestyle weight management services, which are focused on helping people develop healthy eating and exercise habits, for adults but warned doctors not to “blame” patients for being fat.

Figures from 2011 suggest that about 30 per cent of boys and girls aged two to 10 were overweight or obese, including about 23 per cent of children aged four to five and 34 per cent aged 10 to 11.

Professor Mike Kelly, director of the Centre for Public Health at Nice, said: “Obesity in children and young people is a serious and growing concern”.

The programs will “support parents to identify changes that can be done at home to tackle obesity – and maintained over the long-term”, he added.

“Many of them are things we should all be doing anyway, including healthy eating, getting the whole family to be more active and reducing the amount of time spent watching TV and playing computer games.”

The guidance says parents and children should be told how obesity can cause serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes in later life, and to ask about their attitudes towards diet and exercise and the amount of time they spend being sedentary.

Program organizers should highlight the importance of all family members following advice on eating healthily and being physically active, even if they are not themselves overweight, it says.

It calls for “positive parenting skills training”, such as help in understanding nutritional information from food labels, or finding ways to incorporate more activity into their children’s daily life such as walking or cycling.

Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum, said the advice was “spot on” but said persuading local authorities to follow the guidance could be “a different kettle of fish”.

“They have been handed a poisoned chalice of dealing with it by Westminster without the funding required for the job,” he said.

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Black Women Have 41% Higher Risk of Breast Cancer

Black women are dying of breast cancer at a much more aggressive rate than white women—and a new study finds that disparities in healthcare are to blame.

A study from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that while white women have a higher incidence of breast cancer, Black women have a 41 percent higher mortality rate—perhaps because more Black women are diagnosed with regional- or distant-stage cancer (45 percent versus 35 percent). Out of every 100 breast-cancer diagnoses, Black women have nine more deaths (27 versus 18).

 The report, Vital Signs: Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Severity, finds that the issue goes beyond genetics: Equity in healthcare access and the quality of that care are major contributors to breast-cancer prognoses.

 “Breast-cancer death rates have been declining among U.S. women since 1990 because of early detection and advances in treatment; however, all racial groups have not benefited equally,” reads the report. “Black women experience inequities in breast-cancer screening, follow-up, and treatment after diagnosis, leading to greater mortality.”

Findings include:

Only 62 percent of Black women start treatment within 30 days, compared with 82 percent of white women.

Black women’s diagnosis-to-mammogram intervals are longer than white women, even when both individuals have the same insurance—20 percent of Black women had an interval of 60 days or more compared with 12 percent of white women.

One study showed that equitable treatment could eliminate up to 19 percent of the mortality difference between Black and white women.

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Irregular bedtimes linked to kids’ behavioral problems

A regular bedtime might guarantee more than a good night’s sleep for both kids and their parents — it turns out that a regular bedtime can make for a better-behaved child, new research suggests.

When 7-year-olds had irregular bedtimes, they were more likely to have behavior problems than their peers with a consistent time for their nightly shut-eye. And, the study also found that the longer a child had been able to go to bed at different times each night, the worse his or her behavior problems were.

“Irregular bedtimes were linked to behavioral difficulties, and these effects appeared to accumulate through early childhood,” said the study’s lead author, Yvonne Kelly, a professor of lifecourse epidemiology at University College London.

“We also found that the effects appeared to be reversible — children who changed from not having, to having, regular bedtimes showed improvements in behaviors, and vice versa,” she added.

Kelly and her colleagues reviewed data on more than 10,000 7-year-olds who were enrolled in the U.K. Millennium Cohort Study. Details on the children’s bedtimes were collected when they were 3, 5 and 7 years old.

At the same time that sleep findings were collected, researchers asked teachers and mothers to rate the children’s behaviors. The behavior survey included 25 questions.

Kids with irregular bedtimes had more behavioral problems than did children with regular bedtimes, according to both their teachers and their mothers. The children’s mothers rated the children with irregular bedtimes as having slightly more behavior problems than did the teachers.

The longer a child had an irregular bedtime, the greater the behavioral difficulties. On average, a child who had an irregular bedtime at one time-point in the study increased his or her score on the behavioral difficulties scale by about a half-point. If that child had an irregular bedtime at two time-points during the study, the score increased by about 1 point. If the child had an irregular bedtime at all three time-points during the study, the score increased by just over 2 points.

“A half-point corresponds to a ‘small’ effect. Irregular bedtimes at two ages, and all three ages, corresponded to a 1- and 2-point difference in behavior scores. These effect sizes would have ‘moderate’ clinical significance,” said Kelly when asked if these score differences would make a noticeable difference in a child’s behavior.

The good news from the study is that if you switch your child to a regular bedtime from an irregular bedtime schedule, your child’s behavior will likely improve. The reverse is also true. If a child with a regular bedtime switches to an irregular one, behavior will likely worsen, the researchers noted.

Kelly said irregular bedtimes could contribute to behavior problems in several ways. “First, switching bedtimes from night to night interferes with circadian rhythms [the body clock] and induces a state akin to jet lag. Second, disrupted sleep interferes with processes to do with brain maturation,” she explained.

Dr. Ruby Roy, a pediatrician at La Rabida Children’s Hospital in Chicago, agreed that several reasons may contribute to a connection between irregular bedtimes and behavior problems.

“When kids don’t have structure and predictability, they have anxiety,” Roy said. “Kids naturally want to push boundaries, and when they don’t have boundaries, it causes anxiety and acting out. A lack of sleep can also cause behavior problems, and some of these kids may only be going to sleep when they’re passing out from exhaustion, which means they won’t get enough sleep,” she explained.

“Kids probably sleep better with regular bedtimes and when they have established bedtime routines,” Roy added.

Kelly concluded: “Getting regular routines around bedtimes appears to be important for children’s behavioral development. But, there are lots of other influential factors, too. So we shouldn’t get too hung up about children having the same bedtime every single night.”

The study was published online Oct. 14 and in the November print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

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Weight gain during pregnancy linked to child obesity

Piling on the pounds during pregnancy can lead to overweight children and might be contributing to rising obesity rates, research suggests.

 A mother’s weight gain directly affects the obesity risk of her children, a study involving more than 40,000 women and their 91,000 offspring has confirmed.

For each kilogram of weight gained during pregnancy, a child’s body mass index (BMI) at age 12 increased by 0.02 kg/m2, the study found.

Children of mothers who put on the most weight had a BMI that was 0.43 higher, on average, than those whose mothers gained the least weight.

This could account for “several hundred thousand annual cases of pediatric overweight or obesity worldwide”, said the researchers.

It is believed that previous research highlighting the trend could have been swayed by shared influences affecting mother and child, such as socio-economic background and genes.

Therefore the US scientists looked at mothers with two or more children, matching birth records to school reports that included every child’s body mass index (BMI) at the age of 12.

Comparing siblings with the same home environment and distribution of obesity genes helped to isolate the effects of pregnancy weight gain, they said.

Lead researcher Dr David Ludwig, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Centre at Boston Children’s Hospital, said: “From the public health perspective, excessive weight gain during pregnancy may have a potentially significant influence on propagation of the obesity epidemic.

“Pregnancy presents an attractive target for obesity prevention programs because women tend to be particularly motivated to change behavior during this time.”

Writing in the online journal Public Library of Science Medicine, the authors conclude that high pregnancy weight gain increases a child’s risk of obesity by 8 per cent.

BMI measurements are obtained by dividing weight in kilogram by height in meters squared. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal, 25 to 29.9 overweight and 30 and above obese.

They authors noted: “The 0.43 kg/m2 increase in BMI could represent a significant component of the estimated 2 kg/m2 increase in mean childhood BMI in the US since the 1970s

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Bottle feeding linked to stomach obstruction in infants

New research says that bottle feeding appears to increase the risk of babies developing hypertrophic pyloric stenosis, a form of stomach obstruction characterized by severe and frequent projectile vomiting and most common among infants in their first 2 months of life.

Surgery, called pyloromyotomy, may be needed to clear the hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS), which occurs when the smooth muscle layer of the pylorus (the “gateway” between the stomach and small intestines) thickens.

Dr. Jarod P. McAteer from Seattle Children’s Hospital and colleagues say in the study that although this is a fairly common condition – it occurs in approximately 2 in 1,000 births – the cause remains unknown.

This study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, sets out to establish if bottle feeding during early infancy increases the risk of developing HPS, and if so, how the risk is modified by other factors.

Bottle feeding ‘may play a role in HPS’

The researchers found that the incidence of HPS decreased from 14 per 10,000 births in 2003 to 9 per 10,000 births in 2009. They note that the popularity of breastfeeding also increased during that time from 80% in 2003 to 94% in 2009.

The study revealed that bottle-fed infants were more likely to develop HPS, compared with controls (19.5% vs. 9.1%). The odds of an infant developing HPS also increased if they were male, and when mothers were 35 years and older and multiparous (having given birth more than once before.).

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Douglas C. Barnhart from the Primary Children’s Hospital, Salt Lake City, writes:

“While the data seem convincing that bottle feeding increases the risk, the reason is not clear.”  

“Further understanding of the pathogenesis of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis will come from both basic research and more detailed epidemiologic studies,” Barnhart concludes.

Dr. McAteer and his colleagues agree, adding:

“Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and to look more closely at the speculative mechanisms, including possible hormonal effects, underlying the bottle feeding-HPS association.”

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