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Each month we feature one full
article from the current issue of the WELLNESS LETTER, plus our
Ask the Experts column, in addition to brief summaries of the
other articles, listed below.
Cheese: Merits and Demerits
Americans are eating record amounts of cheese—9.7 billion pounds were produced in the U.S. in 2007. Cheese has merits, including its bone-building calcium. But the way we usually eat it—slathered on pizza, poured over nachos, stacked on crackers—cancels out any health benefits. After all, cheese is high in calories (about 100 per ounce, on average) and fat (6 to 9 grams per ounce, most of which is saturated), and it often contains a lot of sodium. Still, small amounts can fit into most people’s diets. Lately some researchers and marketers have been emphasizing the potentially healthful aspects of cheese. Full
Story
Food Irradiation: A Cool Debate About a Hot Topic
Who wants to fear a spinach salad or peanut butter? See a child get desperately ill from E. coli in a hamburger? In spite of the efforts of growers, distributors, the government, and the public, an estimated 76 million Americans get food poisoning each year and about 5,000 die from it. How can food be made safer? One answer is irradiation. This may not be the answer you want to hear. There’s still opposition to food irradiation, and several organizations campaign against it. But there’s also a long list of supporters, including the USDA, FDA, CDC, and World Health Organization. We sort out the claims about the benefits and risks.
Those Other Blood Fats
If you have high cholesterol, there are clear steps you should take to lower it. But what should you do if your blood test also shows that your triglycerides are elevated? High levels of triglycerides have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease and possibly strokes. Here’s how to lower your triglycerides.
Are You Thick Skinned?
Calluses are your skin’s way of protecting itself against repeated friction or pressure. You can get them from wearing sandals, shoes with no cushioning, or shoes that don’t fit well, or if you have certain foot problems. And you may get more of them with age, as the fat pads on your feet thin out. Though unsightly, calluses are usually not a problem. But if a blister forms underneath or if calluses become too thick and crack, they can be painful. Calluses that develop a thick center are called corns and usually develop on toes, where they are particularly tender. Here’s what you need to how to get rid of them—and what not to do.
Bathroom Reading
The inability to have regular bowel movements is often thought of as an “elderly” concern. But marketers today are pitching laxatives to a younger audience. Metamucil, the bulk laxative, offers to “beautify your insides.” Other brands promise a “purified” colon and weight loss (“as much as 15 pounds in a few days”), plus the benefits of purging your intestines of unhealthy foods you may have eaten. Here are some questions and answers about laxatives: Do you need to cleanse your colon? Is a laxative an effective weight loss aid? What causes constipation? What’s the best plan for regularity? What kind of laxative is best, if I need one occasionally? Can laxatives harm the colon or cause dependency? What about prunes? Yogurt?
Cardiovascular Exercise Machines: What’s Right for You
A good gym will offer a wide choice of cardiovascular exercise machines, from stair climbers to recumbent bikes. Which ones will help you burn calories fastest? Which ones also give you a weight-bearing workout to build strong bones? A trainer can show you how to use each machine, if you’re just starting a gym program. Stick with what’s most comfortable and enjoyable. We look at the five most popular machines and describe their advantages and disadvantages.
ASK
THE EXPERTS
Our readers ask: I see “sugar alcohol” listed on some food labels—what is this? Are knock knees a problem for exercise? Do certain foods cause hives? How valid are home apnea tests? Full
Story
WELL & INFORMED
Tips, Short Takes, and Other News You Can Use
Younger than your years . . . Nuts about magnesium.
WELLNESS TIPS
• Try turkey breast instead of chicken breast, for a change. Turkey cutlets are the leanest meat around. While 4 ounces of roasted, skinless chicken breast has 185 calories and 4 grams of fat (1 gram saturated), turkey breast has 150 calories and 1 gram of fat (almost no saturated fat). In fact, turkey breast with skin has slightly fewer calories than chicken breast without skin, and about the same amount of fat.
• If you get a lot of headaches, consider acupuncture. A recent review from Duke University concluded that acupuncture is better than both medication and sham acupuncture (in which needles are placed in locations other than true acupuncture points) at relieving chronic headaches, particularly tension-type headaches.
• Look askance at eye exercise programs that claim to improve your vision. The muscles that move the eyeball and focus the lens don’t need special exercise. Nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism are not caused by weak eye muscles, but by the shape of the eyeball, cornea, and internal lens of the eye. Eyeglasses neither strengthen nor weaken your eyes.
• If you use exercise machines that display how many calories you burn, take the numbers as rough estimates, at best. The machines tend to overestimate the calories for most people.
• Don’t depend on Wikipedia as your primary source of drug information. A new study found that this popular user-edited online resource was technically accurate in the information it provided, but that it often left out essential information, particularly on contra-indications, adverse effects, interactions, and use in pregnancy.
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