Health A-Z

Middle-aged drinking ‘impairs memory’

Problem drinking in middle age doubles the risk of memory loss in later life, research suggests. A US study found men and women in their 50s and 60s with a history of alcohol abuse were more likely to have memory problems up to two decades later.

The study, in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, adds to growing evidence that excessive drinking can impair mental processing later. Researchers say it is a public health issue that needs to be addressed.

Middle-aged drinking 'impairs memory'

Scientists questioned 6,500 US middle-aged adults about their past alcohol consumption. They were asked three specific questions:

  • Had people annoyed them by criticising their drinking?
  • Had they ever felt guilty or bad about their drinking?
  • Had they ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady nerves or get over a hangover?

Those who answered yes to one of these questions were considered to have a problem with alcohol. They had more than double the risk of developing severe memory impairment, the study found.

“We know that alcohol is bad for the brain in general, but it’s not just how much you drink but how it affects you,” lead researcher, Dr Iain Lang, from the University of Exeter Medical School.

“The amount that you drink is important – what is also important is if you experience any problems in your drinking or if other people tell you you have a problem.”

He advised drinking within recommended daily and weekly amounts and to cut down if affected by any of the items in the questionnaire, as this could increase dementia risk.

Hidden cost
Dr Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society charity, said there was a hidden cost of alcohol abuse, given mounting evidence that alcohol misuse can impact on cognition later in life.

“This small study shows that people who admitted to alcohol abuse at some point in their lives were twice as likely to have severe memory problems, and as the research relied on self-reporting that number may be even higher.

“This isn’t to say that people need to abstain from alcohol altogether. As well as eating a healthy diet, not smoking and maintaining a healthy weight, the odd glass of red wine could even help reduce your risk of developing dementia.”

Dr Eric Karran, science director at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Although studies such as this one can be very useful for observing health trends, it’s important to note that they are not able to show cause and effect, and it’s not clear whether other factors may also have influenced these results.”

Source: bbc news

Is Soy Bad For You or Good? Find the Truth Here

Soy is one of the largest cultivated crops in the US and used as the main protein source by most vegetarians or vegans. There seems to be a lot of confusion whether soy is good for your health or not. For decades the mainstream media has been telling us how healthy soy products are. But have those million dollar campaigns tricked us into believing something that’s not true?

Well the answers is YES. Soy is not healthy. It causes major health problems and its production is destroying our planet. There are hundreds of research studies linking soy to malnutrition, allergic reactions, thyroid disorders, immune issues, digestive disorders, infertility, cancer, and heart diseases.

So if you think soy is a health food, just like I thought, then you have been the victim of smart marketing campaigns over the past years.

But What About Asian People? They Eat Tons Of Soy And Are In Good Health.

Is Soy Bad For You or Good

We all assume Asian people eat tons of soy, and since they are thin and in good health, soy must be the superfood the media claims it to be. Or is this just an illusion?

To be honest I have been to Asia a few times and they are not the big soy-eaters we think they are. Soy based foods are served as a condiment and never as a main meal or replacement for animal protein. And another big difference, all their soy products are fermented in contrary to what you get on your plate in the West.

Soy’s History

Originally soy was an inedible plant used as a rotating crop to fix nitrogen in the soil. Ancient Asian people were aware that soy contained many toxins (such as saponines, goitrogens, hemagglutinin, oxalates, phytates, protease, estrogens, etc.), making it unsafe for consumption. Only after discovering that soy’s toxins could be neutralized through fermentation they started to use fermented soy products in small amounts for cooking.

The soy industry made massive investments in marketing campaigns, and that’s how unfermented and overly processed soy products like soymilk, tofu, soy cheese, burgers, and ice cream ended up on our kitchen tables.

So in contrary to what we think, Asians do not use soy (as we know it) as their main source of protein and all soy is fermented.

The Hidden Dangers Of Soy

Our western market is flooded with unfermented soy products that we should avoid at all cost. Before going into detail about the risks, I want to share with you my personal experience with soy.

3 years ago I decided to eat less meat, and soy became my main source of protein. After 2 months all my breast glands where painfully swollen, my hormones were a total mess, and they found calcifications in both breasts. These calcifications can be the onset for breast cancer. Luckily it didn’t come so far, but the thought scared the hell out of me. I stopped all soy intake and everything went back to normal in less than a week or 2.

Health Risk Of Soy Products

Although soybeans are complete proteins with moderate amounts of fat and considered a good alternative for animal protein, these 8 reasons will definitely change your mind, if my personal story didn’t give you enough proof to stay as far as possible from unfermented soy like tofu, edamame, soy milk and soy burger.

1. Estrogen-like Phytochemicals

Soybeans contain phytoestrogens, which act like natural estrogen and can seriously mess up your hormones. And not only women are affected. Men, children and newborns as well.

For men, raised estrogen levels mess up testosterone levels and may cause infertility, low libido, low sperm count, man boobs, fat accumulation around the waist, energy loss, and it increases the risk of cancer (especially prostate cancer).

For women, raised estrogen levels cause estrogen dominance which is linked to infertility, disrupt endocrine system, menstrual issues, and increased risk of cancer (especially breast cancer).

Newborns who are consuming soy formula are daily consuming an amount of estrogens that equals the amount of 4 to 5 birth control pills! Your baby needs a balanced hormonal system for its normal development. Especially baby boys are affected. Too much estrogens can mess up the development of the testicles and other issues may appear when they grow older (lack of facial hair, prostate cancer, thyroid malfunctions, and emasculation).

2. Affects Absorption Of Essential Minerals And Vitamins

Soy has very high levels of phytic acids. These inhibit the absorption of essential minerals like zinc, calcium, magnesium, iron and copper. Soy also contains protease inhibitors, which block the function of important enzymes necessary for the digestion of proteins.

Eating soy regularly will increase your body’s need for vitamin D and B12. People who often eat soy make their B12 deficiency much worse. And that is bad news for the vegetarians and vegans who are already at higher risk of vitamin B12 deficiency. Just as with the estrogens, soy contains vitamin B12-like compounds that can’t be used by our body.

3. Thyroid Disruptor

Soy contains high levels of goitogens. These compounds slow down thyroid function and disturb the thyroids ability to use iodine. This can lead to hypothyroidism, or and under-performing thyroid gland. Especially women are at risk.

Goitrogens can also be found in cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, kale, cabbage), but in smaller amounts and these are removed when vegetables are cooked, which is not the case for soy-products.

4. Free Glutamic Acid (MSG)

MSG is potentially neurotoxic and is formed during the processing of soybeans. And if that isn’t bad enough, they add more to mask soy’s natural bad flavor. MSG can change the normal activity of the nervous system and damage nerve tissue.

5. High Levels Of Aluminum

MSGs are not the only thing found in final soy products. When soybeans are processed they are washed with acids in aluminum tanks. During the process high levels of aluminum end up in the final product.

6. Almost All Soy Is GMO

More than 80% of all soy grown in the US is genetically modified to make the plants resistant to a toxic herbicide (Roundup). GM soy has often been associated with allergies and an increased risk of infertility.

7. Not A Good Alternative For Celiac and Gluten Intolerant People

Although soy does not contain gluten, its lectins can damage your intestines and prevent your gut from healing.

8. Not Good For our Planet

And soy is not only wreaking havoc on our bodies, it is ruining our planet and poisoning our livestock as well. Actually they see the same issues appearing in animals that are fed with soy.

And one last thing, soy is a very destructive crop. It depletes the soil from its essential nutrients and the crops are heavenly sprayed and processed afterwards.

Source: healthy and natural world

Ebola Warning: CDC Issues Travel Advisory for West Africa

Ebola Warning CDC Issues Travel Advisory for West Africa

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention upgraded its travel advisory for West Africa Thursday because of the raging Ebola outbreak, saying people should avoid nonessential travel to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

“This Level 3 travel warning is a reflection of the worsening Ebola outbreak in this region,” CDC said in a statement.

““This is the biggest and most complex Ebola outbreak in history. Far too many lives have been lost already,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “It will take many months, and it won’t be easy, but Ebola can be stopped. We know what needs to be done. CDC is surging our response, sending 50 additional disease control experts to the region in the next 30 days.”

Source: nbc news

Beware! Teenagers active in evenings more prone to insomnia

Have you witnessed your teenage son getting more active in the evenings compared to rest of the day? He may be prone to develop insomnia in addition to depression and anxiety.

Teenagers who are more active in the evenings are more likely to have depression and insomnia, research finds. Such people are also more likely to have obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety and social phobia.

Beware! Teenagers active in evenings more prone to insomnia

“Our findings suggest that the ‘eveningness’ chronotype – being more active in the evenings – is an independent risk factor for insomnia and depression,” said Pasquale Alvaro from University of Adelaide’s school of psychology.

In many countries, nearly 11 percent of teenagers aged 13-16 years experience insomnia at some stage. Having insomnia in addition to anxiety or depression can further intensify the problems being experienced with each individual disorder.

“It can lead to such problems as alcohol and drug misuse during adolescence,” Alvaro added. To reach this conclusion, Alvaro surveyed more than 300 Australian high school students aged 12-18 to better understand their sleep habits, mental health condition and the time of day they were most active.

He found that the presence of insomnia was independently linked with depression, generalised anxiety disorder and panic disorder among teenagers. The results were published in the journal Sleep Medicine.
Source: India

3 Ways to Kick Your White-Bread Habit

3 Ways to Kick Your White-Bread Habit

Some of my clients wouldn’t touch white bread, rice, or pasta with a 10-foot pole, while others just can’t seem to make the switch to whole-grain alternatives. For the latter group, it’s either because they’re so accustomed to the flavor or texture of refined grains, or because they’ve had a bad experience with healthier options

For example, one of my pro athlete clients recently told me that whole-grain pasta tastes like sticky cardboard mixed with glue, a pretty vivid and unappetizing description! But it turns out, the pasta he tried was way overcooked and unseasoned. If, like him, you’re reluctant to try again, I encourage you to give it another go, because racking up more nutrients isn’t the only benefit.

A recent Spanish study that tracked the eating habits and weights of more than 9,000 people found that those who ate only white bread and downed two or more portions a day were 40% more likely to become overweight or obese over a five-year period, compared to those who ate less than one portion of white bread a week. While the study didn’t include rice or pasta, other research backs the notion that consuming whole-grain versions curbs obesity risk, and protects against a number of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers.

Try these three tricks to reap the benefits of whole grains without feeling like you’re choking down cardboard. You may never crave the pale stuff again!

Spruce up with spreads

A hearty whole-grain bread can overpower the flavor of sandwich fillings. To balance it out, slather on a plant-based spread or two, including hummus, olive tapenade, pesto (like sun-dried tomato, roasted red pepper, artichoke, or eggplant), tahini, ripe avocado, or guacamole. In addition to being delicious, these spreads add heart-healthy fat and boost your antioxidant intake. To prevent carb overkill (and an overly grainy texture), opt for an open-faced sandwich, or use crisp Romaine leaves as the top layer so you can still pick it up with both hands and bite in.

Become season-savvy

Nearly everyone who’s told me they don’t like brown rice or other cooked whole grains like quinoa tried them plain—and a little seasoning can make a huge difference. One of the simplest ways to add both flavor and moisture is to quickly sauté cooked grains in organic low sodium vegetable broth along with herbs and spices. There are dozen of options, but some of my favorite combos include: minced garlic with fresh grated ginger and crushed red pepper; garlic with fresh cilantro and fresh squeezed lime juice; or garlic with fresh squeezed lemon juice, black pepper, and Italian herb seasoning. In addition to serving them hot, seasoned whole grains can also be chilled. Either way, try tossing them with chopped or shredded veggies, lean protein, and a good-for-you fat, like extra virgin olive oil, chopped nuts, or minced avocado.

Think al dente

These days there are a wide variety of whole-grain pasta options, including whole wheat, or gluten-free choices, like brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta, and noodles made from black beans and buckwheat. But when it’s overcooked, any pasta can lose its appeal. Whole-grain versions do take a little bit longer to cook than white pasta, but the difference is generally only a few minutes, much less than most people think. So start checking it right away, and turn off the heat when the pasta is still firm to best preserve the texture.

Like bread and rice, whole grain or white pasta alternatives taste best when paired with robust sauces, so let your culinary creativity run wild. Try healthy add-ins with bold flavors like Kalamata olives, capers, wild mushrooms, and caramelized onions, or stir in a little balsamic vinegar or harissa seasoning. Or forgo pasta sauce in favor of a dollop of one of the spreads I mentioned above, like sun-dried tomato or eggplant pesto. Hot or chilled, the right combination may just win you over!

Cynthia Sass, MPH, RD, is Health’s contributing nutrition editor. Frequently seen on national TV, she privately counsels clients in New York, Los Angeles, and long distance. She’s also the sports nutrition consultant to the New York Rangers NHL team and the Tampa Bay Rays MLB team, and is board certified as a specialist in sports dietetics. Her latest New York Times best seller is S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim: Conquer Cravings, Drop Pounds and Lose Inches.

Source: TIME

Health Benefits of Asparagus

Asparagus has a pretty healthy image but what are the real health benefits of asparagus? how many calories in asparagus? is there any evidence that asparagus is a cancer fighter, is it a myth or a hoax? What nutrients are there in asparagus? We will try to answer all of these questions here.

sparagus is one of those healthy foods that can contribute to healthy meals leaving you feeling as though you are eating well and enjoying your food. If you are trying to get your 5 a day fruit and veg the advice is to eat 80g of each item. 5 spears is about the right quantity for your 1 portion.

How healthy your asparagus is going to be will be influenced by how you cook it and what you eat with it. Whilst asparagus smothered in melted butter tastes absolutley delicious the butter is going to provide most of the calories and a lot of fat. However there are plenty of ways to enjoy asparagus without layering on the butter. Take a look at some of the recipes for ideas and also take a look at different ways to cook asparagus for more ideas.

Asparagus

The good news is that asparagus can help with hangovers!

Whilst Asparagus isn’t going to deliver you many calories it is going to deliver you plenty of asparagus nutrition which is one of the benefits of healthy eating.

The essential facts are as follows:

In a portion of 5 spears of asparagus you will find:

  • 80kJ / 20kcalories
  • 2.3g protein
  • 1.7g fibre
  • 1.5g carbohydrate(of which 1.5g sugars)
  • 0.5g fat (of which trace saturates), trace of salt, trace sodium high in folic acid and potassium

Nutrition Facts

In putting together a healthy diet the health benefits of asparagus are such that it can be fitted nicely into a low glycemic index diet. Its always good to be able to put something this tasty into a diet isn’t it!

And if you like your vegetable juices you may like to take a look at our page on asparagus juice and its properties. or find out about Asparagus Extract which is sold in tablet form as a diuretic.

Finally there are the claims surrounding asparagus and cancer. Are they true? I think its best to assume its not a wonder cure but no doubt as a fresh vegetable it is a perfect way to get one of your 5 a day fruit and veg to reduce the cancer risk.

The California Asparagus Commission quote studies as showing that green asparagus is higher in a number of nutrients than white asparagus. They say for example that green asparagus contains nearly 3% by weight of protein compared to less than 2% in White Asparagus. They also state that White Asparagus contains half the ascorbic acid and calcium that Green Asparagus contains and that Green asparagus contains more than twice the thiamin and niacin.

Source: asparagus lover

Alcohol ‘kills 15 Australians each day’, new report finds

Every day, 15 Australians die and 430 are hospitalised as a result of alcohol misuse, according to the Alcohol’s Burden of Disease in Australia report funded by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and VicHealth.

The study by Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre found 5,554 deaths and 157,132 hospitalisations were caused by alcohol in 2010, amounting to a 62 per cent rise in the number of deaths since the last study was conducted in 2000.

Men were significantly more likely to die or be hospitalised as a result of alcohol misuse than women, accounting for 62.4 per cent of alcohol-related deaths a year, and 64.5 per cent of alcohol-related hospitalisations.

Alcohol ‘kills 15 Australians each day’, new report finds

Injuries also accounted for a much greater proportion of alcohol-related deaths in men, at 36 per cent, while cancer and digestive diseases caused 25 and 16 per cent respectively.

Among women, 34 per cent of alcohol-related deaths were due to heart disease, followed by cancers (31 per cent) and injuries (12 per cent).

The results for the Northern Territory — where residents are three times more likely to die from alcohol use than other Australians — were particularly concerning.

Lead researcher Belinda Lloyd said the study made it clear that alcohol posed both short- and long-term risks to health.

“Increasingly people are aware of the risks of things like drink driving and violence,” Dr Lloyd said. “People tend to be less aware of the long-term risks of chronic alcohol consumption, which is any more than two standard drinks a day.

“These can include cancers, digestive diseases and cardiovascular diseases.”

source: the australian

Why Your Bottled Water Contains Four Different Ingredients

Water you buy in the store is not just hydrogen and oxygen. Here’s why food producers add all those extra ingredients.

Next time you reach for a bottle of water on store shelves, take a look at the ingredient list. You’re likely to find that it includes more than just water.

Popular bottled water brand Dasani, for example, lists magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and salt alongside purified water on its Nutrition Facts label. SmartWater contains calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and potassium bicarbonate. Nestle Pure Life’s list includes calcium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and magnesium sulfate. And these are just a few brands. Bottled water companies are purifying water, but then they’re adding extra ingredients back.

Why Your Bottled Water Contains Four Different Ingredients

None of this should be cause for health concerns, says Marion Nestle, professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and professor of Sociology at New York University. The additives being put into water are those naturally found in water and the quantities of these additives are likely too small to be of much significance. “If you had pure water by itself, it doesn’t taste have any taste,” says Bob Mahler, Soil Science and Water Quality professor at the University of Idaho. “So companies that sell bottled water will put in calcium, magnesium or maybe a little bit of salt.”

Taste tests have revealed that many people find distilled water to taste flat as opposed to spring waters, which can taste a bit sweet. Minerals offer a “slightly salty or bitter flavors,” which is likely why low mineral soft waters have a more appealing taste

Many of the ingredients that are added to bottled water occur naturally in tap water and in our daily diets. Potassium chloride, for example, is a chemical compound that is often used as a supplement for potassium, which benefits heart health and aids normal muscular and digestive functions. Magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium chloride are all inorganic salts.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that Americans reduce current levels of sodium intake by 2,300 mg per day, so you would have to drink a lot of water to make much of a difference, Nestle says. The typical amount of sodium in water averages at around 17 mg per liter.

But just because additives are generally naturally occurring ingredients doesn’t mean that consumers shouldn’t look at labels. If labels show calories, that means sugars have been added. Some bottled waters can be high in sodium, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends only drinking water that contains 20 mg of sodium per liter or less.

The best choice that many water consumers can make may be to just stick to drinking tap water. “To the extent that tap water is clean and free of harmful contaminants,” says Nestle, “it beats everything in taste and cost.

Source: TIME

Top five health benefits of eucalyptus oil

Eucalyptus oil has many properties that make it an attractive solution for many health ills. However, it was not always so popular. Until recently, many people did not know much about its use as an aromatherapy. Today, though, the use of eucalyptus oil continues to grow as more about it becomes known. There are too many uses for this oil to name them all, so the following are the top five ways to use this oil to obtain the maximum health benefits.

Top five health benefits of eucalyptus oil

Repel insects

Many people will instantly recognize the strong, but pleasant, scent of eucalyptus oil, as it continues to gain in popularity as a natural method to keep an area free of irritating and biting pests. Depending on the user, the oil can either be mixed with some type of cream and applied to the skin to keep insects, such as flies and mosquitoes, from biting or it can be used as a mist in a vaporizer to keep pests at bay.

Stop skin infections

Due to its powerful antibacterial properties, eucalyptus oil can be used as a successful means of halting skin infections. The University of Maryland Medical Center published a paper that cited the benefits of cineole, the strongest compound contained in eucalyptus oil, to treat wounds.

Antiseptic qualities

The cineole contained within eucalyptus also has powerful antiseptic qualities that make it an ideal addition to toothpastes, mouthwashes and other dental hygiene products. Cineole kills those bacteria that cause bad breath. In addition to that useful attribute, the Journal of Periodontology published a study which detailed how effective cineole is at keeping the mouth healthy. Cineole helps reduce the amount of plaque that builds up on the teeth and gums, reduces the bleeding of the gums and helps maintain the overall health of the mouth.

Respiratory illnesses

For a number of years, eucalyptus oil has been used as a remedy for colds and other respiratory illnesses. Popular as an additive to steam machines and vaporizers, this essential oil has also been directly used as a method to clear a stuffy nose. Because eucalyptus oil is antibacterial, it has been shown to be effective at wiping out the bacteria that causes respiratory illnesses. Additionally, when used with a vaporizer, the misting oil has been shown to be excellent as a decongestant and at clearing blocked-up noses.

Make the immune system stronger

BMC Immunology published a study which found that using eucalyptus oil strengthens the macrophages, the cells whose job it is to kill infections. In addition, the study showed that the oil helped the body produce its own protective mechanism. There are also some promising data emerging that point to eucalyptus oil as being effective at inhibiting the progression of diabetes. More research is needed in this area, though.

Source: Natural news

Slow walking speed may be early dementia sign

There may be a new way to diagnose early signs of dementia: a walking speed and memory test. In a study published in Neurology, researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center in New York developed a test to screen the speed of someone’s walking, combined with their cognitive complaints. They believe this test could help diagnose motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), thought to be an early sign of dementia.

Slow walking speed may be early dementia sign

In 22 studies from 17 countries involving 26,802 healthy adults ages 60 and older, researchers found that one in 10 exhibited MCR signs— meaning a slow gait of less than 1 meter per second in addition to cognitive complaints. The scientists followed up with 4,812 of the participants over a 12-year period. People who had MCR indicators were found to be twice as likely to develop dementia compared to those who did not exhibit MCR signs.

The test may help people prevent the development of dementia by motivating them to adopt healthier lifestyles and get more exercise if they know they’re at a higher risk. Also, the test could help doctors uncover other possible medical reasons for someone’s MCR, such as hypertension or high cholesterol.

The researchers noted that further research is needed to analyze a connection between MCR and dementia risk.

Source: health central