Health Tip of the Day

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If you're cooking in the kitchen with ginger, chances are you're lowering your risk of cancer.

Every pantry should be stocked with this knobby-looking rootstock spice. It possesses two cancer-inhibiting compounds, 6-gingerol and 6-paradol, and it lends a warm, pungent twist to dishes, especially fish. In fact, you may be most familiar with the pickled ginger that is often served with sushi. For the most benefit, choose fresh over pickled whenever possible; simply peel, shred, and mince the root into foods.

[bongjo]

How to Avoid Catching an Infectious Disease

Get an edge on common illnesses by incorporating these healthy habits into your routineby Ellen Mazo and The Editors of Prevention Health Books

(Oct. 2, 2006) -- Diseases can be spread in myriad ways: through the air, by touch, during ***, through contact with infected blood. To prevent illness, we need to keep our immune systems healthy as well as foil the illness's sneaky methods of transmission. The strategies for preventing most illnesses are chiefly common sense, yet many of us neglect to take the simple precautions that could reduce the number of infectious diseases that we or our children get every year. For goodness's sake, wash your hands! All of us carry germs from surfaces we touch to our faces or our children's faces, where they can find easy entry into our bodies. At work, wash your hands several times a day, particularly before you eat, even if you're just snacking while at the computer. Wash them when you get home, after grocery shopping, and before you prepare a meal. And don't forget to wash them after changing the baby's diaper or wiping a toddler's runny nose.Teach your children to wash their hands. For even the tiniest toddler, washing hands before a meal should be automatic. And it should be a thorough wash, with scrubbing and lots of suds spread all over the hands and wrists, not just a quick spritz of water.Act as if you have stock in Kleenex.Get everyone in your household into the tissue habit. And teach them to cover their mouths and noses when they cough and sneeze. Even little children can learn automatically to cover up with a tissue to prevent germs from flying.Use your dishwasher as your secret weapon. Anything that goes in a child's mouth--pacifiers, toys, teething rings, nipples, bottles--should be washed often. Put plastic toys in the dishwasher and soft toys in the laundry, especially when colds and flu are making the rounds. If you don't have a dishwasher, use a dishpan of hot, soapy water, and rinse with the hottest water that the plastic (and your hands) can stand.Give your toothbrush some breathing room. Don't store your family's toothbrushes together in a glass. Put them in the sort of holder that doesn't let them touch each other. Shake them after using so that they dry fast--germs don't thrive well on dry surfaces. Of course, don't share toothbrushes--it's a very direct way to share germs.Know when to say goodbye. Because they tend to harbor infectious organisms, if you've had a cold or strep throat, throw out your toothbrush and use a new one. (For hygiene and tooth health, change to a new toothbrush every 3 months.)When you're on the mend, think hot water. After you or your family member has recovered from a bout of sickness, wash the bedding and nightclothes in hot water. Wash down the crib or bed and all bedroom surfaces, and then open windows--even in the winter--to help fresh air circulate into the room.Change the towels. Facecloths and towels should be changed every day. This is doubly important when someone in the house has a cold or the flu.Observe kitchen etiquette. Change dish towels every day. Don't dry dishes with the same towel that you use for your hands. Even better, let your dishes air dry. Clean your sponges in the dishwasher and change them often.Keep dry. Most infectious organisms don't thrive on dry surfaces. After you use soap and water on the sink and countertops in your kitchen, dry them with paper towels. This is a good practice for the bathroom, too.Quarantine raw meat. To prevent food poisoning from salmonella and other organisms, keep your meat and salad preparations apart. Use different areas of the kitchen if you can and different cutting boards and knives. Wash up spilled meat juices with soapy paper towels, not sponges. Store meat where its juices can't leak onto other foods. Wash your hands after handling raw meat.

[bongjo]

Most people breathe the way they dance: They think they know what they're doing, but they really don't have a clue.

Stop for a second and focus on your breathing. Now look down. See anything moving? Probably not. That's because most people typically take very short, shallow breaths -- the kind that simply come from your chest. For you to really improve your lung function, you need to practice taking deep, whole breaths. It should take about 5 seconds to inhale and 7 seconds to exhale. And your belly should get big, then small. Ahhh . . . that's better.

[bongjo]

Go ahead, turn up the smooth jazz -- but hit the pause button once in a while, too.

Music can significantly impact your blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates, as well as your soul. Not surprisingly, music with a fast beat excites, while slow rhythms soothe. But nothing is as relaxing as silence. Researchers found that even after listening to the mellowest music, a pause from the surrounding sound produced the most relaxation, even more than 5 minutes of quiet meditation

[bongjo]

Get more from your walking workout by putting it in reverse.

Walking backward burns more calories, improves coordination, and gives your heart and lungs a better workout than hoofing it forward -- as long as you maintain your speed. The reason? It forces your leg muscles to work harder and in different ways. Just do it in a safe place (like the local high school or college track) where you won't bump into something and take a spill.

[bongjo]

the Ingredients Label
By Jaclyn Johnson
eDiets Staff Writer
Updated: August 9, 2006


Look at the ingredients on the back of your ice cream. What do you expect to see? Milk, sugar, perhaps vanilla? What you might find is glycerol monostearate, an emulsifier that can help to keep the milk fat in suspension, and limit the growth of ice crystals on the ice cream. Labels can be deceiving and many times we don't even know what we are eating!
The ingredients with the strange names usually fall under certain categories and serve certain functions in our food. For instance:

Acidity regulators: These are used to adjust the acidity or basicity of foods and include buffers, acids, alkalis and neutralizing agents.
Anti-caking agents: These make the product more free-flowing.

Emulsifiers: These are very common and allow for easier mixing of oils and water. An example of a food emulsifier is an egg yolk.

Flavor enhancers: These help bring out the natural flavor in the food. The most known is the controversial monosodium glutamate (MSG) sodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid and a form of glutamate.

Modified Starch: A type of thickening agent.

Stabilizers: These are added to food to help stop foods from separating.

Sweeteners: Natural and nonsugar sweeteners. How many ways can you say "sugar"!
"There are many, many ways to say sugar, and consumers are not often aware that a product contains a lot of sugar, because it doesn't say sugar," said eDiets Chief Nutritionist Susan Burke.
All nutritive sweeteners have a similar amount of calories, ranging from 16 calories per teaspoon for white sugar (sucrose), to 20 calories for honey. Read the label; you'll be surprised to see all the sugars in a box of breakfast cereal. They all have similar nutrition. Even if you think it's healthier, it's still just sugar as far as your body is concerned. If you eat too much, it's stored as fat."
These sugars often appear on food ingredient lists: glucose, fructose, lactose, maltose, sucrose (white sugar), corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, honey, malt syrup, fruit-juice concentrate and cane sugar.
So the unpronounceable ingredients you find in your food usually serve one of the functions listed above. Now, while it is near impossible to list all the strange ingredients you might encounter, we can list for you some of those you're likely to encounter:
SWEETNERS AND FLAVOR ENHANCERS

Aspartame -- Aspartame is better known by its trade name Nutrasweet, an artificial low-calorie sweetener. Aspartame can be found in breath mints, carbonated soft drinks, cereals and yogurts.
"This FDA-approved sweetener has been proven safe over more than 10 years of testing," Burke said. "Only people who can't process phenylalanine (a rare genetic defect) need to avoid aspartame."

Maltol -- This is another flavor enhancer that gives a taste reminiscent of freshly baked bread. It is used in cakes and different varieties of bread.

Sorbitol -- A type of low-calorie sweetener also called sugar alcohol. It is a sweetener that occurs naturally in fruits and is also a thickening agent. It is often considered better for diabetics because it is absorbed more slowly and does not cause a rapid blood sugar rise or promote tooth decay. It is used in sugar-free candies, chewing gums, frozen desserts and baked goods.
"Excess consumption can lead to gastrointestinal upset, including bloating, gas and diarrhea," Burke said. "Children are especially vulnerable. And since sorbitol does contain carbohydrates and is not calorie-free, consumers need to consider that sorbitol provides one-third fewer calories than sugar -- about 2.6 calories per gram."

EMULSIFIERS

Lecithin -- Susan says lecithin is "naturally occurring in eggs. It's used commercially as an emulsifier and processed from soybean or sesame seed oil." Lecithin is used for homogeneity in food products. For instance, lecithin is the emulsifier that keeps chocolate and cocoa butter from separating when making a candy bar. Limited research shows that soy-derived lecithin may positively affect cholesterol and triglyceride blood levels.

Xanthan Gum -- A polysaccharide used as a stabilizer and emulsifier. It can be used as a thickener in sauces and as a fat substitute with fewer calories.

Preservatives are additives that inhibit the growth of bacteria, yeasts and molds in foods.
Antioxidants are chemicals used to stop the oxidation process from taking place and prevent the product from
spoiling. Often these are used to keep products fresh for longer periods.

PRESERVATIVES

Beta-Hydroxy-Toluene (BHT) -- It is an antioxidant and preservative added to food to protect freshness. It is also added directly to shortening, cereals and other foods mainly containing fats and oils.

Sorbic acid -- Susan says this is "commonly used in cheese making, because it allows the growth of some bacteria (necessary for cheese production) but limits fungal growth. Also used in other fermented goods, including wine and yeast breads."

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Don't play favorites with this pair. Invite them both to your supplement party.

When calcium and vitamin D get together, their powers multiply. Not only do they help build your bones and boost your immune system function, but, according to new research, they also help ward off type 2 diabetes. Research shows you'll be a whopping 33 percent less likely to develop the condition if you get at least 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium and 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D per day compared to an intake of only 600 mg of calcium and less than 400 IU of vitamin D daily.

[SamuraiArcher]

Water Works for Weight Loss

Nothing quells the appetite like water, lots and lots of water. Start out with two quart bottles in the morning and carry one with you to work or wherever you go. If you like, divvy up the 64 ounces of water into eight (8-ounce) bottles or four pint (16-ounce) bottles to carry around with you all day. Freeze half of them the night before and they will last all day, even in a hot car. Keep some unfrozen so they will be ready to drink immediately.

Yes. You will have to make more frequent bathroom trips, but it is worth it. Drink your 64 ounces of water before dinner, if possible, so you're not up half the night going to the bathroom.

Water not only fills you up and lessens your appetite, it prevents those "hungry horrors" we all encounter when our blood sugar drops and we reach for cookies, candy, ice cream, fries or other high-calorie treats. Water also flushes out the system, rids the body of bloat and toxins and rosies up the complexion. Now, start splashing.

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PERMISSION to DAYDREAM

Imagine this: You're on a beach, with a cold drink in one hand and the latest best-selling novel in the other.

The salty beach breeze kisses your face while the ocean tickles your toes. You hear gulls talking, waves crashing, and the steel-drum band jamming. Feel like paradise? Great. That quick mental picture just improved your brain function. Keep your brain flexible by setting aside time each day to daydream about whatever you like.

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Now That's Just Sad
No one likes feeling down. But down and like a dim bulb? That's just adding insult to injury.
Yet new research suggests this may be exactly what happens to some people. When depression -- even moderate depression -- is combined with aging, it increases the risk of mild cognitive decline in just a few years. And half the cases of mild cognitive decline develop into full-blown dementia. Which underscores why persistently feeling "just a little down" should always be treated, not shrugged off.