Researchers found that women following a low-fat diet reduced their overall calories, changed their cooking methods and reduced portion sizes of meat and dairy products. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Health experts have long touted the benefits of a low-fat diet for preventing heart disease, but now a large study suggests it might do the same against breast cancer.
Researchers found that eating low-fat foods reduced a woman’s risk of dying from breast cancer by 21%. What’s more, the women on low-fat diets also cut their risk of dying from any cause by 15%.
“This is the only study providing randomized controlled trial evidence that a dietary intervention can reduce women’s risk of death from breast cancer,” said study author Dr. Rowan Chlebowski.
He is from the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif.
Diet has long been suspected to be a factor in cancer.
Obesity has been linked to 12 different types of cancers, including postmenopausal breast cancer, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research. And, a diet full of healthy foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes is thought to help protect against cancer.
Chlebowski noted that previous studies have shown a higher cancer incidence in countries where people tend to eat more fat.
The latest study looked at the effect a low-fat diet might have on the incidence of breast cancer and death.
Nearly 49,000 postmenopausal women from 40 centers across the United States were included in the study. The women were between the ages of 50 and 79 and had no history of previous breast cancer.
Eighty percent of the women were white, which Chlebowski said matched the population when the study began.
Between 1993 and 1998, the women were randomly assigned to one of two dietary groups. One group was assigned to a normal diet. This diet had about 32% of their calories from fat. The low-fat group had a target of 20% or less of calories from fat.
Chlebowski said the low-fat diet was close in content to the Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension diet, or DASH diet. This emphasizes eating vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, while avoiding high-fat meats and dairy products, according to the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
The low-fat group lost a modest amount of weight. Chlebowski said there was about a 3% difference in weight between the groups. He said the researchers factored the weight difference into their calculations and that weight alone didn’t affect the risk of death.
Women in the low-fat group adhered to the diet for about 8.5 years and both groups were followed for an average of nearly 20 years.
The women in the low-fat group weren’t able to achieve the 20%-or-less target for fat, but they did manage around 25%, according to the researchers. And they did increase their intake of fruits, vegetables and grains.
“The diet was more moderate than originally planned. But we saw a diet of 25% to 27% fat is largely achievable,” Chlebowski said.
He said the researchers don’t know if any individual components of the diet were more important than others, but they hope further study will tease that out.
In the meantime, Chlebowski said he thinks the message should be one of dietary moderation rather than looking for any one particular food or food group.
He said the women in the low-fat study group reduced their overall calories, changed their cooking methods and reduced their portions of meat and dairy products.
The findings are to be presented soon at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. Findings presented at meetings are typically viewed as preliminary until they’ve been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
ASCO breast cancer expert Dr. Lidia Schapira, from Stanford University, noted that this study shows “what we put on the plate matters. It’s worth coaching and pushing patients to put more fruits and vegetables on their plates.”
She added that even when women didn’t reach the more stringent dietary fat goal of 20%, they still showed a health advantage from trying to reduce the fat in their diets.
Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, president of ASCO, said these findings were “really, really striking.”
She noted, “This was not an incredibly restrictive diet. People were able to adhere to it pretty well.”
And yet, the incidence of breast cancer went down by 8% in the women on low-fat diets.
“They were getting fewer breast cancers and even when they did get breast cancer, their death rate was reduced,” Bertagnolli said.
Craving something sweet? It may be tempting to gobble up old favorites like candy, chocolate, cookies and cupcakes.
But where does that get you? Lots of calories. Refined sugar. Virtually no nutritional value.
As an alternative, it may be time for you to consider one of nature’s sweet treats: dates.
Along with its caramel-like sweetness, this delectable fruit delivers a healthy dose of antioxidants, fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, plant-based iron and an array of other vitamins and minerals.
And it’s hard to go wrong with a natural food.
“There are a multitude of naturally delicious fresh and dried fruits, such as dates, that provide sweetness with fiber, lowering the glycemic load impact,” Spectrum Health dietitian Caren Dobreff said.
Dates vary by size and weight, so the nutrient information can vary widely. Larger dates can weigh up to 24 grams—and pack about half a gram of protein and just under 1.6 grams of fiber. Smaller dates can weigh about 8 grams and provide 6 grams of carbohydrate, 5 grams of natural sugars and less than 1 gram of fiber.
Dobreff said those smaller dates may be a better fit for those needing to watch their daily total sugar intake, even if it is natural sugar.
Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat
Dates work as a sweet treat on their own, but there are many ways to incorporate them into your cooking and baking, Dobreff said.
“We take a recipe and we give it some interest and a little bit of sweetness, but not off the charts,” she said.
Eliminating refined sugars and replacing them with natural sugar, as found in dates, can help you recalibrate your taste buds to what nature intended for sweetness.
“I want people to have a real idea of what sweet is supposed to taste like,” Dobreff said. “All the added sugars, syrups and artificial sweeteners have given us an unrealistic idea of what sweet is supposed to be like.”
When using dates, Dobreff recommends using the whole date as opposed to products such as date sugar, which is made from dehydrated dates ground into a granulated sugar, or date syrup, which is made by boiling the dates and reducing the liquid to a honey-like consistency.
“The whole food is going to have higher fiber content, which is incredibly important when it comes to regulating your blood sugar level,” Dobreff said. “Added sugars and syrups have virtually no fiber, which has a stronger impact on our blood glucose level.
“And, as we all know, what goes up must come down—and then we have a sugar crash.”
Here are Dobreff’s tips for incorporating dates into your diet:
Use them in baking to replace chocolate chips or candies. If you’re making homemade protein bars or energy bites, add dates for something different.
Add dates to a leafy green salad or to a whole grain salad, such as farro or quinoa.
For a finger-food snack, cut the date open butterfly-style and put peanut butter or almond butter inside. Kids love this one.
Chop them and add them to roasted vegetables such as Brussels sprouts, tossed in balsamic vinegar. “It makes for a wonderful, healthy comfort food,” Dobreff said.
Instead of raisins, add chopped dates to your hot cereal or oatmeal. Go a step further and add apples and cinnamon.
Try these recipes from Spectrum Health’s culinary medicine classes: coconut pecan date rolls and roasted cauliflower salad with dates and golden raisins.
Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat
When shopping in the grocery store, you’ll find dates in the baking or produce section near the dried fruits and nuts. They’re usually offered as organic, too, if you desire.
Remember to remove the pits when you prepare them, Dobreff said.
Dates are a great way we can add nature’s sweetness to our cooking, all while avoiding refined sugars.
“I am hoping that people will think more about, ‘How can I make this dish taste good and use more of a whole food natural ingredient?’” Dobreff said.
Bad eating habits begin at a young age in American children, a new study finds.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 1,200 babies (aged 6 to 11 months) and toddlers (12 to 23 months) between 2011 and 2016.
They found that 61% of babies and 98% of toddlers consumed added sugars in their typical daily diet, mainly in flavored yogurt and fruit drinks.
Infants consumed about 1 teaspoon of added sugars daily (about 2% of their daily calorie intake) and toddlers consumed about 6 teaspoons (about 8% of their daily calories).
The main sources of added sugar for infants were yogurt, snacks and sweet bakery products. For toddlers, the top sources were fruit drinks, sweet baked products and candy.
Asian toddlers consumed the fewest added sugars (3.7 teaspoons) and blacks the most (8.2 teaspoons).
The study was published online recently in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
“This has important public health implications since previous research has shown that eating patterns established early in life shape later eating patterns,” lead investigator Kirsten Herrick said in a journal news release. She’s a researcher with the Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The findings did bring some good news: The percentage of babies and toddlers whose daily diets include added sugars declined, as did the amounts they consumed.
But consumption of added sugars remains high among young children.
Herrick noted that a previous study found that 6-year-olds who had consumed any sugar-sweetened drink before their first birthday were more than twice as likely to drink such beverages every day than those who had not.
“Previous research into the diets of children over 2 years old associated sugar consumption with the development of cavities, asthma, obesity, elevated blood pressure and altered lipid profiles,” Herrick said.
Only one U.S. health organization—the American Heart Association—offers guidelines on sugar consumption for children under age 2, researchers noted.
“Our study’s findings about infant and toddler diets should raise awareness among health organizations and practitioners and inform future guidelines and recommendations,” Herrick said.
She advised parents to be cautious about added sugars in the foods they give babies when weaning them.
Parents should talk to a health care provider about which solid foods to introduce, and check the nutrition information on food labels.
Intermittent fasting—the fancy term for going up to 14 or 16 hours without eating anything—is all the rage these days.
Dietitians and their celebrity clients are touting it as the latest and greatest weight-loss tool.
And there’s been some promising evidence that the approach may even lower the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, one of the most serious chronic illnesses in the world.
Researchers who have linked intermittent fasting to improved sensitivity to insulin also recently discovered it might lower pancreatic fat in rats. And that may reduce the odds of developing diabetes.
In a small study of humans with pre-diabetes, participants who ate from the hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. saw significant improvements in their insulin sensitivity and blood pressure.
But don’t approach intermittent fasting without some measure of caution.
Kristi Veltkamp, MS, RD, outpatient dietitian at Spectrum Health Blodgett Hospital, said it makes sense to take intermittent fasting with a healthy sprinkling of skepticism, especially when it comes to its relationship to diabetes prevention.
“Some people do lose weight when they try this style of eating,” she said. “And the No. 1 way we know to prevent diabetes is by losing weight.”
Even shedding as little as 5 to 10% of your body weight can reduce the risk of diabetes by 58%.
“So this type of eating may be helpful because people are losing weight,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean intermittent fasting gets the credit. From that perspective, any weight-loss method can be said to lower diabetes risk.”
The strict timing of meals can have a significant downside for some people.
“Often, they get so hungry that they overeat during their eight-hour window, sometimes making poor food choices,” Veltkamp said.
For others, it’s just not convenient, especially if they are trying to eat meals as a family.
Most people consume the last meal of the day in the evening, not by 3 p.m.
“By all means, experiment,” she said. “For example, often people are surprised to discover that they feel better eating breakfast later in the day.”
But until more conclusive data emerges, pay close attention to the guidelines already proven to prevent diabetes.
5 proven ways to keep diabetes at bay:
1. Eat the Mediterranean way
If you haven’t already experimented with a Mediterranean diet, now’s the time. Eating meals with plenty of fish, vegetables, whole grains and olive oil has been linked to an 83% lower chance of developing diabetes.
2. Nix the nighttime snacks
Even if you never try intermittent fasting, those evening snacks—often scarfed down in front of the TV—can sabotage any healthy diet. Once you’ve left the dinner table, try to stop eating for the evening.
3. Pay attention to protein
Veltkamp recommends including some protein in every meal and snack. This includes dairy, nuts or cheese. “It keeps people full longer and helps with cravings,” she said.
4. Quit bashing carbs
While processed foods, soft drinks and white sugar cause rapid ups and downs in glucose levels, Veltkamp worries that too many people vilify all carbohydrates.
Whole grains and fruits are a healthy part of every diet, she said.
“Sugar isn’t all bad,” Veltkamp said. “I’ve yet to have to tell a patient that they’re eating too many apples.”
5. Strive for flexibility
Finally, when you’re looking for a lifetime approach to healthy eating, it’s smart to be gentle with yourself.
While all-or-nothing diets may be the craze—from the Keto plan to Whole 30—she advocates a much more forgiving approach, with an 80/20 rule.
Strive for solid, sensible meals 80% of the time, then relax with the remaining 20% of meals.
Bello Spark a tight, often stripped down band that focus on vocals — as their bandstand often reveals. (Supplied by the band)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
Scouring the web for info on Grand Rapids’ own Bello Spark, you run across a bit on their Facebook page that states the band “uses a blend of male and female vocals, acoustic guitars and atmospheric electric guitars creating a light rock/Americana sound. Think Death Cab for Cutie meets The Civil Wars.”
They had me at Death Cab.
The band will lead off the City of Kentwood’s 2020 Winter Concert Series of three free concerts on select Thursday nights once a month from January to March at the Kent District Library’s Kentwood (Richard L. Root) Branch. WKTV Community Media will also record the concerts and will make them available on-demand.
Belo Spark (Supplied by the band)
Bello Spark’s band members include Rob Jordan on vocals and guitar, Tory Peterson on lead guitar and vocals, singer/songwriter Cole Hansen and drummer Jay Kolk.
According to their official bio, the group came together in 2011 with founders Jordan and Peterson, who toured as a two person group “across the Midwest, and out to the Great Plains, all the while honing their craft.” Together they released the band’s debut album, 2013’s self-titled recording.
After returning to their home state of Michigan, the two joined forces with Hansen and Kolk, and “the resulting sound has been a visceral mix of atmospheric guitar, three-part vocal harmonies, and lyrics that are both uplifting and poignant. Listeners will find the light rock, urban sound laced with the honesty of folk, and the grit and emotion of the blues.”
The band released their sophomore album, Among the Lights in July of 2016, and they are reportedly working on new music for a new release.
The band’s local awards include being an ArtPrize 2016 Song Competition Finalist and a WYCE radio’s 2014 Jammie Award Winner for Listener’s Choice: Best Album by a New Artist.
The series will feature Serita’s Black Rose and Nicholas James Thomasma in upcoming concerts. Food trucks will also be on-site during each concert. Bello Spark will be paired with Patty Matters Food Truck; Serita’s Black Rose, with food truck Grilled Greek, will be Feb. 20; Nicholas James Thomasma, with food from Bobby’s Fusion Grill, March 19.
All concerts will begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. Concertgoers are welcome to bring their own beer or wine to enjoy.
“It’s never too early or too late to work towards being the healthiest you.”
Anonymous
Seeing 2020 (health) in 2020
The quest for health and fitness can be a difficult challenge with the hectic pace of busy schedules and the bustle of the holidays. But January is a great time to start by making a resolution to strive for health.. Go here for the story.
Eating is part of healthy living
A typical workout doesn’t give you license to eat whatever you want. Even a full hour of vigorous skiing burns just 600 calories — less than the amount in a super-sized fast food sandwich. Go here for the story.
Healthy questions to ask the Doc
Even if your yearly physical isn’t scheduled for several months, there are questions you should ask your doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner during your appointment. Go here for the story.
Fun fact:
Be an ‘8 percenter’!
Less than 8 percent of people actually stick to their resolutions each year, according to some estimates, but whether you want to lose weight, get organized, or achieve anything else in 2020, it’s all about sticking to your goals. Source.
A typical workout doesn’t give you license to eat whatever you want.
Even a full hour of vigorous skiing burns just 600 calories—less than the amount in a super-sized fast food sandwich. That’s why it’s important to think of exercise as just one part of a shape-up plan.
Exercise works the cardiovascular system and builds muscle, but it takes calorie restriction to also lose weight. Small diet tweaks that you can make when you’re building a healthier body through exercise will maximize your efforts.
Here’s what you need to know about nutrition when you work out regularly.
You don’t need to fuel up like a marathon runner, but give your body some nourishment about two hours before every workout to make exercise more effective. Have a small meal with healthy carbs and protein and some fat. If eating two hours in advance doesn’t work with your schedule, aim for a small snack about an hour before your workout.
It’s also important to eat a small meal with carbs and protein within two hours after your workout to give your body the nutrients it needs.
Keep in mind that “calories in and calories out” is a balancing act that varies from person to person.
So whether you’re trying to lose weight or maintain, keep a journal that records the amount of calories you get from food as well as the amount of calories burned off during workouts to see if your intake needs to be adjusted up or down.
Beware of so-called training supplements. These products aren’t regulated and their claims may not have any science behind them.
If you’re getting a good amount of whole foods in your diet—that is, unprocessed and unpackaged foods—you shouldn’t need any of these aids.
Finally, it can’t be stated often enough: Drink water as needed before, during and after exercise to stay hydrated, especially in hot and humid conditions.
Older women, beware: New research warns that drinking a lot of diet sodas or artificially sweetened fruit juices may increase your risk for stroke.
In a study that tracked nearly 82,000 postmenopausal women, those who drank two or more diet drinks per day saw their overall stroke risk rise by 23 percent, compared with those who consumed diet drinks less than once a week.
Blocked arteries were often the main culprit, with heavy diet drink consumption linked to a 31 percent greater risk for an ischemic stroke, which is triggered by a clot, the study findings showed.
Study author Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani acknowledged that an “association does not imply causation.” But she stressed that the findings held up even after taking into account the nutritional value of each participant’s overall diet.
So, “we can’t assume these diet drinks are harmless, particularly when consumed at high levels,” Mossavar-Rahmani said.
“The take-home message is that these findings give us pause,” she added. “We need to do more research on why we are seeing these associations. What are the scientific mechanisms? Is there something about the artificial sweeteners, for example, that affect the bacteria in the gut and lead to health issues?”
Mossavar-Rahmani is an associate professor in the department of epidemiology and population health’s division of health promotion and nutrition research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in New York City.
The study authors pointed out that the American Heart Association has recently underscored the lack of sufficient research into the cardiovascular impact of diet sodas. Until more work is done, the AHA says the jury remains out on whether artificially sweetened beverages do or do not hasten heart disease.
Women in the latest study were between 50 and 79 when they first enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative trial between 1993 and 1998.
Investigators tracked the general health of all the enrollees for an average of nearly 12 years. During that time—at the three-year mark—all the women were asked to indicate how frequently they consumed diet sodas and diet fruit drinks over a three-month period.
The researchers did not take note of which brands of artificially sweetened drinks the women drank and so did not know which artificial sweeteners were being consumed.
That said, nearly two-thirds of the women consumed diet sodas or drinks very infrequently, meaning less than once a week or never. Only about 5 percent were found to be “heavy” consumers of artificially sweetened drinks.
After taking into consideration a variety of stroke risk factors—including blood pressure status, smoking history and age—the study team concluded that heavy consumption of diet drinks did appear to be tied to cardiovascular risks in a number of ways.
For example, those women who drank two or more diet beverages a day saw their overall risk for developing heart disease increase by 29 percent. They were also 16 percent more likely to die prematurely from any cause.
Certain groups fared even worse: Among obese women and black women with no history of heart disease or diabetes, a diet drink habit pushed clot-driven stroke risk up by roughly twofold and fourfold, respectively, the researchers reported.
Whether or not the findings would apply to either men or younger women remains unclear, the study authors noted.
The findings were published online recently in the journal Stroke.
Lona Sandon is program director of the department of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
She agreed that more research is needed to further explore a possible diet drink-heart disease connection. But for now Sandon offered simple advice: diet or regular, sodas offer no nutritional value other than calories.
“If they replace other drinks, such as milk and 100 percent fruit or vegetable drinks, then these women miss out on valuable nutrition for protecting the heart and vascular system,” Sandon warned.
“The nutrition you are missing because you are drinking artificially sweetened beverages instead may be the real problem,” she said.
A group representing the artificial sweetener industry offered another caveat about the findings — that many women who drink diet drinks are already struggling with weight issues.
“It is likely study subjects were already at a greater health risk and chose low-calorie sweetened beverages to manage their calorie and sugar intake as these products are proven safe and beneficial for those managing their weight and blood glucose levels,” said Robert Rankin, president of the Calorie Control Council.
“The contribution of reverse causality, meaning that individuals already at a greater risk of stroke and cardiovascular events chose low-calorie sweetened beverages, is very likely the cause of the associations presented by these researchers,” the council added in a statement.
Studies have found associations between artificially sweetened beverages and increased risk of stroke and heart disease. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
The health risks of sugary drinks, from juice to soda, are well known.
They can lead to overweight and diabetes, stroke and other problems in the brain, including poorer memory and smaller brain volume.
But diet sodas aren’t the answer.
A number of studies have found an association between artificially sweetened beverages and an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, heart attack and other heart-related deaths in women.
The most recent was published earlier this year in the journal Stroke, with researchers suggesting that, even without identifying a specific cause and effect, people should seriously consider the potentially harmful effects of artificially sweetened drinks.
And there’s more.
Researchers at the Boston University School of Medicine followed 4,000 people of both sexes over 10 years.
Using MRI tests, they linked just one artificially sweetened soda a day to brain changes that can lead to dementia, as well as the type of stroke caused by a blockage in a blood vessel.
These risks were triple those of people who don’t drink diet sodas.
It didn’t seem to matter which common artificial sweetener—saccharin, aspartame or sucralose—was consumed.
While some people see diet soda as a way of weaning off regular soda, it may be healthier in the long run to skip this type of transition.
If you like soda’s carbonation more than the better option of water, flavor plain seltzer with a squeeze of your favorite citrus fruit, a few crushed berries or both.
For variety, try freshly grated ginger, chopped mint or a teaspoon of vanilla. Also consider replacing soda with a glass of milk—you’ll get important protein and a shot of calcium in the bargain.
The holidays are notorious for overindulgence, whether it’s from eating too much at the family dinner table or from having too much rich and sugary food that isn’t healthy for us. But what can you do over the holidays to avoid packing on the pounds when healthy options aren’t as readily available?
Thankfully, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to avoid overeating and making poor health choices during big family feasts, while still enjoying your favorite foods. Take a look through this list of helpful ideas that you can use to make better decisions this holiday season, and celebrate without the stomachache.
1. Watch what you drink
The beverages we consume during the holidays is an often unexpected source of carbs and calories. Sweet drinks and alcohol can have unhealthy ingredients, and when we don’t stop to consider what we are drinking, we can find ourselves shaking our heads in shock at the scale next year.
To help avoid overindulging with unhealthy drinks, make sure you are consuming plenty of water throughout the day. Not only will this help you quench your thirst, but drinking a glass of water before a meal can also help you feel full and calm your cravings before dessert is brought out.
2. Stop snacking
Eating healthy, full meals is the best way to avoid gaining weight over the holidays, so don’t skip out on breakfast and lunch in favor of unhealthy snacks! Not only are snacks typically high in fats and sugar, but they fill us up before we have a chance to eat our veggies during dinner.
If you are going to snack, try going to healthier foods like cut vegetables, fruits, or other foods that provide additional health benefits like boosting energy levels and building endurance.
3. Stay active
Staying active in winter isn’t always the easiest task, but it’s important to do what you can to combat additional calories with exercise. Even something as simple as taking a walk after your meal can go a long way in keeping your overall health in check over the holiday season. Just be sure to watch out for ice!
4. Find healthy options
Make sure that there are plenty of healthy options on the table, like salads and other vegetable side dishes. If you are hosting dinner, ensure that you provide the options your family and friends need to have a balanced meal. If you are visiting someone else, call ahead and see what the menu is, or offer to help out the host by bringing your own healthy dishes to share.
5. Fill up on vegetables
When filling up your plate with food, try and keep a ratio of 50% vegetables, 25% meats, and 25% starches. This will help you get the servings of veggies you need while still enjoying the other items on the table. A helpful hint: more color on a plate often means a healthier meal!
6. Pick the best spot
Having the best seat at the table doesn’t just mean more elbow room! If you aren’t seated right in front of the buffet table, you can avoid some of the cravings for second and third (and fourth) helpings. Staring at the available options during dinner can make it difficult to stick to one serving, so don’t sit yourself in the way of temptation!
7. Take your time
Don’t rush to stuff yourself just because holiday food tastes good! Things will be just as delicious if you take your time and savor each bite. Slowing down while eating helps you to fill up naturally, rather than still feeling hungry even though you’ve already overeaten.
In the same vein, don’t rush to get up and have additional helpings of food before you’ve finished the entire plate, including all your veggies and healthier items. This will help you stick to just one serving of each of your favorite foods, which will be more than enough when you take your time enjoying them!
8. Stop when you are full
The biggest favor you can do for yourself this holiday season is to stop eating once you are full. When eating foods we enjoy, most of us want to push ourselves past our limits, which leaves us aching and uncomfortable. By listening to our bodies and putting down the fork once we’ve had enough, we can save ourselves the discomfort and enjoy a much healthier holiday. Remember that leftovers are always an option!
Holidays are always a wonderful time for family and friends to gather together and enjoy each other’s company. As a part of that tradition, we often indulge in delicious meals, but it’s important to keep our health in mind. That doesn’t mean we can’t eat our dinner favorites, but following these tips can help us avoid feeling too full on unhealthy foods, so we can experience the absolute best that the holiday season has to offer.
Whole-grain breads provide immunity-boosting nutrients and dietary fiber that can help improve cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
There may be no dietary staple more in need of a public relations makeover than bread.
Concerns over carbs, sodium and gluten sometime overshadow what can be a simple, tasty way to add important vitamins and minerals as well as fiber to daily meals.
But some breads are better for you than others.
Whole-grain breads are good sources of nutrients that help maintain a healthy immune system. They also provide dietary fiber that can help improve cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity and Type 2 diabetes.
Refined grains, on the other hand, can lead to a surplus of sugar in the bloodstream, which in turn becomes stored in the body as fat.
And refined-grain breads—which have a finer texture and a longer shelf life than whole-grain breads, but lack most of the nutrients—turn up often in everyday foods. White bread is an obvious example, but French bread, bagels and pizza crust commonly contain refined grains as well.
White bread “looks pretty much like plain sugar, really, just simple carbohydrates,” said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, an associate professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University in New York. “Not the complex carbohydrates that we find in whole grains.”
Fad diets may warn against bread’s calories and carbohydrates, but both are necessary components of a daily diet. Complex carbohydrates provide energy for longer periods of time than simple carbohydrates, like those found in white bread.
“I always find it comical when I see low-carbohydrate bread, because you know, it’s all carbohydrates,” St-Onge said. “If there are concerns about bread, it’s probably more about what you put between those two slices than the slices themselves.”
A slice of whole-grain wheat bread typically contains 70 calories, compared with 77 calories in a slice of white bread. Whole-grain bread has more dietary fiber than white bread (2 grams compared to 0.8 grams) and white bread has 1.64 grams of sugar while whole-grain bread has none.
Whole-grain bread can come in a variety of forms, with a variety of other healthy ingredients.
“You can be very creative with the types of bread that you consume,” St-Onge said. “Having different breads that are whole grain can be a way to make your sandwiches more interesting. You can include flaxseed, rye, oats, walnuts, hazelnuts. Those are good for your heart.”
Whole grains are typically low in sodium, but salt may be added during processing of certain types of bread.
“Bread must have sodium. It needs it,” St-Onge said. “You have to stop the yeast at some point, and you need to have salt to do that for preservation purposes. But I would not consider that to be a reason not to consume bread.”
Bread also contains gluten, a protein that is found in wheat, barley and rye. People who have celiac disease are unable to tolerate gluten and others may have a sensitivity to gluten that causes symptoms such as nausea or abdominal pain.
Gluten-free bread may be an option, St-Onge said, but only if it is truly necessary.
“The gluten craze is something to be wary about,” she said. “Baked gluten-free foods often do not have optimal nutrient value.”
The safest way to make sure your bread is healthy, St-Onge said, is to make it yourself.
“It’s easy; you can use a bread machine or a no-knead recipe where you don’t even have to knead it,” she said. “You can control the flour that you put in. There are no additives.”
Some people trying to limit the carbs and calories of bread may opt for tortillas or lettuce wraps, St-Onge said, but there are dietary implications to be considered.
“A leaf of lettuce will have a couple of calories, where a slice of bread will have 100-something calories. But will you have the same amount of vitamins and minerals in a leaf of lettuce that you will get in a slice of bread? No,” she said.
“Have your regular sandwich and add in leaves of lettuce. Make it crunchy. Make it fresh. And then your sandwich is heftier, it’s bulkier, it’s bigger. It’s more satisfying.”
Canola, grapeseed and safflower oils are suitable for high-temperature cooking because they have a high smoke point. Olive oil and avocado oil are better for sauteing at medium heat. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Oils are one of the most widely used ingredients in cooking and are healthy alternatives to butter and margarine.
All cooking oils, including olive, canola and peanut oil, contain 14 grams of total fat per tablespoon and roughly 120 calories.
So measure amounts carefully because even though some fat is essential for good health and these are excellent choices, they’re still high in calories.
For high-temperature cooking like stir-fries or when searing meat, use high smoke-point oils like canola, grapeseed and safflower oils. For sauteeing vegetables at medium heat, use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil, which has gotten popular in recent years.
Since baking uses gentle heat, you can go with any oil you like. For cake and brownie recipes, try replacing butter with light olive oil, which has much less saturated fat but is still light in flavor.
Though all oils are great for salad dressings, try aromatic nut oils, like walnut oil or hazelnut oil, and seed oils, such as pumpkin seed oil and flaxseed oil, for a flavor twist. Keep them refrigerated to prevent them from going rancid—they’re very delicate.
Let them come to room temperature if they thicken in the fridge.
Here’s an easy dressing recipe that you can use on any side salad or over cold, chopped vegetables. It works especially well on peppery-flavored watercress.
Watercress Salad
2 tablespoons walnut oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
8 ounces watercress
16 walnut halves, coarsely chopped
Whisk oil, mustard and garlic salt in a large bowl. Add the vinegar
and whisk again. Add the watercress and toss well. Divide among four
plates and top with equal amounts of chopped nuts.
Studies have shown differences in the brains of fibromyalgia sufferers, sometimes with areas of lower blood flow than expected. Similar problems have been seen in people with diabetes. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Fibromyalgia is a mysterious and misunderstood illness, but researchers may have uncovered at least one key to the disease’s origin: insulin resistance.
The new research compared a small group of people with fibromyalgia to two groups of healthy people and noted that a long-term measure of blood sugar levels was higher in the people with fibromyalgia.
Insulin resistance develops when the body starts to struggle with breaking down sugar.
To see if treating those higher blood sugar levels might help, the researchers gave people who had blood sugar levels in the pre-diabetic range or higher a diabetes medication called metformin.
People taking metformin reported significantly lower pain scores, according to the study.
“We combined metformin with standard drugs used for fibromyalgia and saw a much greater degree of pain relief,” said study author Dr. Miguel Pappolla. He is a professor of neurology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
In fact, Pappolla said, the additional pain relief was so significant that the researchers actually called patients on different days to re-check their pain scores.
Because this is a preliminary finding, the researchers aren’t sure how insulin resistance might contribute to fibromyalgia or how metformin might reduce pain. “Metformin may have some analgesic (pain-relieving) activity on its own,” Pappolla said.
Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes widespread pain, fatigue, sleep problems and distress, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even celebrities aren’t spared from this painful condition—Lady Gaga reportedly had to cancel concerts on her tour due to pain from fibromyalgia.
Though the cause of the disorder isn’t clear, it appears that people with fibromyalgia may be more sensitive to pain than other people—what the CDC calls abnormal pain processing.
Pappolla said that studies have shown differences in the brain between people with fibromyalgia and those without, such as areas with a lower blood flow than expected.
The researchers noted that similar problems have been seen in people with diabetes.
The study included 23 people with fibromyalgia.
The researchers compared their hemoglobin A1c levels to large groups of healthy people from two other studies.
Hemoglobin A1c is a simple blood test that measures what someone’s blood sugar levels were during the past two or three months. A level of 5.7% to 6.4% is considered pre-diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. A level of 6.5% or higher means a person has diabetes.
Only six of those with fibromyalgia had normal blood sugar levels. Sixteen had levels considered pre-diabetes and one met the criteria for diabetes.
When the researchers compared the average blood sugar levels of the fibromyalgia group to healthy age-matched people in the other studies, they saw that the blood sugar levels were higher in the people with fibromyalgia, suggesting insulin resistance.
The findings were published online recently in the journal PLOS ONE.
Dr. Edward Rubin, an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, said, “It’s interesting that there’s a possible connection between fibromyalgia and blood sugar. We’ve been attacking the symptoms of fibromyalgia, but we don’t have a good understanding of the root cause of fibromyalgia.”
Rubin, who wasn’t involved in the study, said there may be enough evidence here to try metformin along with other medications used for fibromyalgia for people whose blood sugar levels fall outside of the normal range, to see if they have a positive response.
Dr. Bharat Kumar, from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said this study shows people with the disease that there is hope.
“People with fibromyalgia are often told (falsely) that they have a disease that simply cannot be managed. This article shows that it’s not true. Although it’s unclear if metformin will work for every person suffering from fibromyalgia, there is active research into finding solutions for this frustrating and overlooked condition,” he said.
Kumar said it’s biologically plausible that insulin could have an effect on pain.
“We know that other hormone abnormalities can cause fibromyalgia-like symptoms, so (this finding) is not too surprising,” he added.
Still, he said, he didn’t expect that metformin would be a “silver bullet” for all fibromyalgia pain. He said there are likely a number of causes of the disease.
A little pinot noir now and then might help keep the bacteria in your tummy healthy and happy.
As little as one glass of red wine a week can increase the diversity of the good bacteria in your microbiome, which can help lower bad cholesterol and keep your weight down, researchers say.
“The more people drink, the higher the diversity. But even small amounts, such as one glass of red wine every week, shows a benefit,” said study first author Caroline Le Roy. She’s a research associate in the department of twin research and genetic epidemiology at King’s College London.
Le Roy cautioned that while the findings in the study were robust, they can’t prove that red wine improves the microbiome, only that the two are associated.
It’s not the alcohol that has this effect, but rather the polyphenols in red wine. Polyphenols help feed the good bacteria in the microbiome, the researchers explained.
Polyphenols are also found in fruits and vegetables, and include antioxidants.
For the study, Le Roy and her colleagues looked at the effect of beer, cider, red wine, white wine and whiskey on the gut microbiome of 916 female twins.
Only red wine resulted in a more diverse microbiome, the investigators found.
The microbiome is a collection of bacteria in the gut that has an important role in health. A healthy microbiome helps digest food and keeps some diseases at bay.
An unhealthy microbiome can lead to poor functioning of the immune system, weight gain and high cholesterol, Le Roy said.
A microbiome with lots of different bacteria is a healthy microbiome, she added.
Le Roy’s team found that red wine improved the number of different bacteria in the microbiome, compared with those who didn’t drink wine.
The researchers were able to confirm their findings in three other groups in Britain, the Netherlands and the United States, which brought the total number of participants to nearly 3,000.
Moreover, the results remained constant even after accounting for factors such as diet, socioeconomic status and age.
Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, thinks that drinking red wine may be a marker of a healthy lifestyle, so the health benefits may be due to other factors.
“Do they, in general, lead healthier lives, such as not smoking, eating more of a plant-based diet and exercising?” she asked.
Wine comes from grapes, which like a lot of plant foods, are rich in polyphenols, Heller said.
But polyphenols are also found in vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, legumes and teas that don’t contain alcohol, she noted.
“In addition, plants are our only source of dietary fiber, which is the favorite food for the microbes that live in our gut. When they are healthy, they help keep our bodies healthy,” Heller said.
While drinking small amounts of red wine has apparent health benefits, there are also unhealthy effects of drinking too much, such as liver disease, certain cancers, pancreatitis and a depressed immune system, she said.
“Guzzling red wine, or any alcoholic beverage, is not the miracle we have been led to believe,” Heller said.
For those who drink, the American Heart Association recommends an average of one to two drinks per day for men, and one drink per day for women (one 12-ounce beer, 4 ounces of wine, 1 ounce of 100 proof spirits).
“Let’s be honest, most of us probably drink more than that. If you do not drink alcohol, there is no reason to start,” Heller said.
The report was published recently in the journal Gastroenterology.
Humanity has been drinking it for thousands of years. And based on the ever-growing evidence of its health benefits, there’s no reason to think we should let up anytime soon.
As Chinese legend has it, the Emperor Shennong discovered tea some 4,700 years ago when a strong wind tossed falling tea leaves into his bowl of boiling water. The emperor noticed the leaves change the water’s color and aroma. When he drank it, it soothed him.
It’s been doing that to legions of folks, princes and paupers, for eons.
The main benefits of tea are its antioxidant properties from flavonoids and catechins, but it also has other characteristics that can reduce inflammation and help with regulation of blood sugar and other systems.
Two cups of freshly brewed tea each day may protect against the development of chronic disease, while larger quantities—say, four cups a day—may lower glucose and lipid markers.
So sip away and enjoy the benefits.
Here’s what the research says:
Heart health
The most compelling evidence
is related to heart disease. As it relates to green tea and heart
health, there’s an association between lower levels of cholesterol, LDL
and triglycerides and higher levels of HDL—the “good” cholesterol.
There’s also evidence of significant lowering of systolic and diastolic
blood pressure associated with tea-drinking. Black tea in particular could contribute to a decreased incidence of heart attack.
Weight loss
Research has shown that green tea contains the ideal combination of caffeine and catechins, which work in tandem to stimulate thermogenesis. Green tea has been known to provide numerous health benefits, including the prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Glycemic control
Regular consumption of green tea and black tea has been shown to
decrease fasting blood glucose, insulin levels and hemoglobin A1C. This
can lead to an increase in antioxidants and a reduction in inflammatory
cytokines that cause insulin resistance. It may also cut down on fat
accumulation from carbs.
Arthritis
Research has shown tea’s antioxidant properties cause an anti-rheumatic effect
that may improve the physical abilities of aging populations. This
includes improvements in muscle strength, balance and performance of
daily activities.
Depression
While many Americans may not be looking at tea for its health benefits, perhaps they should. There’s even been some evidence of tea’s possible role in combatting depression.
In this day of ready-to-eat, highly processed food, it is understandable that consumers want to know what is in their food. Food labels require manufacturers to list ingredients (in order of volume, highest to lowest), nutrition, use by date and other aspects. A new label to appear over the next couple of years is the bioengineered label (Photo 1). The law implementing this labeling begins Jan. 1, 2020 and is fully mandated by Jan. 1, 2022. Any product containing genetically modified organism (GMO) products or byproducts must display a label indicating that fact. After Jan. 1, 2022, if the product does not contain this label, it has no GMO ingredients.
This new label will be the most reliable way for consumers to differentiate foods containing GMOs from those that do not. Meanwhile, GMO food labelling can be confusing and misleading.
The following is a list of GMO items currently approved in 2019 for commercial production and sale in the United States:
AquAdvantage Salmon
Arctic Apple
Canola
Corn
Cotton
Eggplant (BARI Bt Begun varieties)
Papaya (ringspot virus-resistant varieties)
Pineapple (pink flesh varieties)
Potato
Soybean
Squash (summer)
Sugarbeet
More items are under development and testing, but not yet approved and released for commercial use. This does not mean all members in that category are genetically modified or bioengineered. In fact, most eggplant, potatoes and summer squash are not bioengineered, but the average consumer does not know that, and bioengineered items cannot be identified based on their appearance. The new bioengineered label should help clear up some confusion.
Photo 2. Non-GMO Project label. Photo by Environmental Illness Network, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
What consumers most often see now is the Non-GMO Project label (Photo 2). Participating companies pay an annual fee to be part of the program, plus an additional fee for each item that will display the label. This is an optional verification program. The Non-GMO Project currently claims to have 3,000 participating brands and is displayed on over 50,000 items.
An aspect of the Non-GMO Project label that can be confusing is that companies can put the label on whatever they want, even if the product could not possibly contain GMO ingredients. Look again at Photo 2 and think about where you have seen this label. You can find it on products where there currently are no GMO members, such as orange juice, cranberries, mandarins or vanilla extract (Photo 3). You may also see it on products that will never contain GMOs, such as salt (Photo 4). Salt only contains minerals; there is no DNA to modify. It is also on some cat litter.
Photo 3. Common food items containing the Non-GMO Project label that currently have no GMO members. Photo by Ron Goldy, MSU Extension.
Why is this label on non-GMO products? It is all about marketing. When people are at the grocery store comparing two products, the additional label is another way to stand out and convince people to put their product in the cart. It may also cause consumers to think items not displaying the label are really GMOs. Therefore, the label can be used more as a marketing tool and not a means of conveying useful information. The new bioengineered label will remove that confusion.
Photo 4. Non-GMO Project label on salt. Photo by Ron Goldy, MSU Extension.
Consumers no doubt will be seeing a growing number of items with the bioengineered label since bioengineered techniques may be a necessary tool in solving future problems. This is an immediate concern for the citrus industry. A disease called citrus greening is currently devastating citrus worldwide and immunity has not been found within any citrus, and therefore may come from another plant species with the trait introduced to citrus using bioengineered techniques.
Do not quickly dismiss bioengineered techniques since they may be the only way to save or improve important segments of the agricultural industry.
The phasing in of the new U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) bioengineered label has the goal of clearing up confusion on GMOs. Whether it achieves that goal depends on consumers making themselves familiar with what that label means. This knowledge will help them make better decisions, ease shopping stress, and allow them to focus on dietary choices that most improve their health.
A great way to avoid double-dipping: Place utensils in the dip bowl so guests can scoop a dollop directly onto a plate. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Double-dipping with a dance partner? A skillful move marked by grace and beauty.
Double-dipping with a snack at a party? Not quite so beautiful or graceful.
But definitely risky.
Using partially eaten food items such as vegetables or chips to scoop dip from a container can deposit bacteria from the double dipper’s mouth into the dip, which can make people ill if they dip into that same container, said Jessica Corwin, MPH, RDN, community nutrition educator for Spectrum Health Healthier Communities. Especially if the individual is sick.
Even a small amount of bacteria introduced by saliva can grow rapidly, perhaps to more than 100 times the initial level, potentially leading to serious illnesses such as a norovirus or herpes if the person has those viruses.
Even if the party guest is not sick, the bacteria they introduce can lead to foodborne illnesses.
While hosts and guests can take steps to protect partygoers from those who act carelessly with food, most of the precautions rest with the host.
Danger zone
For starters, dips that need to be kept cool should be placed on ice.
Dips that need to be kept warm should be placed over the proper heating
source, Corwin said.
“Forty-one to 140 degrees Fahrenheit is the danger zone,” she said. “That’s when bacteria can thrive.”
An extra-thorough host can use a thermometer to check temperatures.
The general rule: Leave food out no longer than two hours. If food is sitting outdoors, limit the time to one hour or less, depending on the temperature.
Also, set out smaller amounts of dip and replace them regularly with chilled dip stored in a refrigerator or cooler.
Some dips will grow bacteria more quickly than others, Corwin said. Runny dips, such as salsa and varieties made from sour cream, pose more of a threat than solid dips such as hummus.
And while it may be more tedious to prepare pre-portioned dip in containers, it could also be a wise move—especially if children are expected to attend the gathering.
“Kids are notorious for double-dipping,” Corwin said. As a mom of three, she speaks from experience.
Hands-free
At day’s end, there isn’t much that guests can do to protect themselves from double-dippers. One option is to bring your own food, or even abstain from eating, but that’s neither fun nor practical.
Still, precautions can be taken.
“If you’re dipping from something more solid, like hummus, take your helping from a portion not touched yet,” Corwin said.
Also, aim for dips that have serving utensils. If the host has set out serving spoons and dishes, people won’t need to double-dip—they can use the utensils to place an adequate amount of chips and dip on their plates.
Corwin emphasized the tried-and-true food safety mantra: “When in doubt, throw it out.
“As a host, anything you can do to take those extra precautions would be advisable,” she said. “You wouldn’t want any of your guests to leave sick, because you want them to come back.”
Following the recipe for food safety is a must anytime you’re in the kitchen—and it starts with clean hands, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says.
“Always wash your hands with soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food,” spokeswoman Isabel Maples advised in an academy news release. “Don’t forget to wash your hands after handling raw meat and poultry to avoid spreading germs through the juices.”
Wash fruits and vegetables, but don’t wash meat and poultry before cooking. Doing so could spread harmful bacteria to your sink and surrounding kitchen areas, she explained.
“Clean your countertops with hot, soapy water. Use paper towels or disinfectant wipes, instead of washcloths or sponges, which can harbor bacteria,” Maples said.
Take apart small appliances—such as can openers and blenders—to clean them, then air dry completely before storing, she recommended.
“Clean your refrigerator every few weeks to rid it of potentially dangerous residue from raw foods. Rid your refrigerator of leftovers after four days. When in doubt, throw it out,” Maples said.
Use a food thermometer when cooking meat—it’s the only real way to know if it’s done, she suggested.
“Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, without it touching the bones or the bottom of the pan, to avoid getting a false reading. Then clean your thermometer with hot, soapy water after each use,” Maples said.
Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold and refrigerate perishable foods within two hours, or within one hour during warmer weather.
Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator, in cold water or in the microwave—not on the counter. Pathogens multiply fast when foods are in the “danger” zone between 40 degrees and 140 degrees.
“Store foods in the correct area of the refrigerator,” Maples said. “To minimize the risk of raw juices dripping into other foods, put cooked and ready-to-eat foods at the top and raw meats and poultry at the bottom. Plus, place raw meats in a container to catch any drips.”
As the weather starts to cool down, it’s time to start looking for ways to keep warm. While cozy blankets and cranking up the heat can help, so will having hot food. At the same time, it’s important to keep your health in mind and remember that as you age it’s not as easy as it once was to whip up complicated meals.
Having recipes in hand that are hot, healthy, and easy to prepare can make a big difference when it comes to planning out your meals and shopping trips. Take a look at these fifteen different dishes from Good Housekeeping and Delish that meet all these criteria—and taste amazing as well!
Courtesy Vista Springs Assisted Living
Satisfying chicken dishes
1. Light Chicken Parmesan⼁Cook Time: 25 minutes
This light take on a classic Italian dish can be prepared in under a half hour and will meet your cravings without packing on calories the same way a heavier, traditional Chicken Parmesan would.
Casseroles are a great way to make a delicious meal without having to spend a long time in front of the stove—just combine the ingredients and bake! This dish features healthy grains like wild rice and great vegetables like brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes.
4. Apple Cider Glazed Chicken⼁Cook Time: 35 minutes
What better way to celebrate fall than with a recipe featuring everyone’s favorite autumn drink, apple cider! This sweeter take on chicken will help you get into the fall spirit while ensuring you keep eating healthy at the same time.
Nothing else can warm you up and satisfy your taste buds the way good soup will! This pumpkin soup is simple, but the sage and mushroom garnish will make you feel like a professional chef.
This flavorful soup combines black beans, red onion, and jalapeño to make a deliciously spicy dish that will make you forget about the chilly weather, all while taking only a half hour to make.
Cauliflower is a great versatile food that can hold a lot of flavor. This simple soup only uses a few ingredients, but the outcome is so hearty and healthy that you wouldn’t believe it was so easy to put together.
9. Butternut Squash & White Bean Soup⼁Cook Time: 45 minutes
If you love butternut squash soup but want to add a little more, then try this variation. With white beans and chickpeas, this take on the original adds some extra heartiness and flavor.
Don’t let the long cook time scare you away! This meal only requires about 20 minutes of prep, and the rest takes care of itself in a slow-cooker. Start it in the morning and have a delicious meal ready for dinner!
Cut back on carbs normally found in pasta with this spaghetti squash substitution. Spaghetti squash is easy to prepare and can help you get your favorite flavors in a healthier way.
Another recipe featuring spaghetti squash, this cheesy dish has all the makings of a great pizza without the empty calories. Warm and tasty, this meal will fill you up in the same amount of time it would take to get delivery.
This cauliflower and broccoli dish is a great way to get the recommended helping of vegetables while making a recipe for the cold weather in only 20 minutes.
Being able to make simple, healthy meals that taste great is a useful skill, especially as you continue to age. Cooking shouldn’t be an all-day task, and it’s important to find foods that aren’t just delicious, but provide additional benefits for you and your health as well. Try these dishes out and stay warm and healthy all year long!
Xylitol, an artificial sweetener found in some ice cream and a host of other products, can cause your dog to have problems with blood sugar levels. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
The sugar substitute xylitol may help you lose weight, but it can be deadly for your dog, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.
Xylitol is present in many human foods and other products. The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine has received a number of reports over the past several years of dogs being poisoned by xylitol.
The most recently reported case involved sugar-free ice cream, said FDA veterinarian Dr. Martine Hartogensis.
Other products that may contain xylitol include sugar-free chewing gum, breath mints, baked goods, some peanut and nut butters, sugar-free desserts, cough syrup, children’s and adult chewable vitamins, mouthwash, toothpaste, over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements.
When dogs eat something containing xylitol, the sweetener is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and can trigger a surge of insulin from the pancreas.
This could lead to a rapid, severe drop in blood sugar levels that can be life-threatening, according to the FDA.
Symptoms of xylitol poisoning in dogs include vomiting, decreased activity, weakness, staggering, lack of coordination, collapse and seizures.
If you think your dog has eaten xylitol, take it to a veterinarian or an emergency animal hospital immediately, Hartogensis advised.
There are a number of things you can do to reduce the risk that your dog will consume xylitol.
“Check the label for xylitol in the ingredients of products, especially ones that advertise as sugar-free or low sugar. If a product does contain xylitol, make sure your pet can’t get to it,” Hartogensis said in an FDA news release.
Keep products that contain xylitol—including non-food products such as toothpaste—where your dog can’t get them.
Only use pet toothpaste for pets, never human toothpaste.
If you give your dog nut butter as a treat or to give your dog pills, check the label first to make sure it doesn’t contain xylitol.
Offering more vegetarian choices in school cafeterias significantly cuts meat consumption without hurting overall sales, British researchers report.
In more than 94,000 college cafeteria choices studied, doubling vegetarian options (from 1 in 4 choices to 2 in 4) reduced purchases of meaty meals by 40-80%.
“Replacing some meat or fish with more vegetarian options might seem obvious, but as far as we know no one had tested it before,” said lead author Emma Garnett, a conservationist at the University of Cambridge in England. “Solutions that seem obvious don’t always work, but it would appear that this one does.”
Shifting to a more plant-based diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce the environmental impact of food production, she said.
When more vegetarian choices were available, they were popular at every meal and meat eaters who ate vegetarian dishes at lunch didn’t go all-meat at dinner, the researchers found.
Vegetarian options have been an “afterthought” on menus for too long, Garnett said in a university news release.
“Flexitarianism is on the rise,” she said, referring to the eating style emphasizing plant-based foods but also allowing for occasional meat and animal products. “Our results show that caterers serving more plant-based options are not just responding to but also reshaping customer demand.”
Simple changes such as increasing the proportion of vegetarian options could be “usefully scaled up, helping to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss,” Garnett said.
The report was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It can seem daunting to have the family over for the holidays. Whether you are at your home, or if you are celebrating the holidays in an assisted living community, the pressure to be a good host for their visit can be overwhelming. No matter where you are, having guests can make you feel frantic. Here is a list of ways to prepare for family so everyone—including you— has a happy and carefree holiday.
Get overnight plans in order early
If your family is planning on staying overnight, either for one night or for a few days, the earlier you get plans together the better. Make sure you have a head count for how exactly many guests are coming, and make sure you have the rooms, beds, or couches that you need if you are planning on having family stay with you.
If you don’t have the space (or don’t want the headache), booking a hotel is a great way to make sure your family is close, but not too close. The earlier you start looking at prices and booking rooms, the less expensive and less competitive shopping for rooms will be. While it’s too late to get November rates, it still helps everyone avoid traveling stress to have plans made well in advance.
Spruce up your home
Sprucing up your home, whether that’s rearranging furniture to make room for opening presents or just making sure everything is nice and clean, is a great way to get ready for family. Make sure that the kitchen, bathrooms, and living spaces are guest-ready, and your place is looking fresh.
If you are in a new place for the holidays, then having your place ready to go will make a great first impression on family, and it will help you feel good as well to know that your home was appreciated. Having your space looking nice can help you feeling less stressed and more welcoming.
Get out the decorations
Celebrate the season with fun decorations! A small tree, fun and festive lights, winter-scented bath soaps, red and green kitchen towels, holiday knick knacks, and other decorations can help your home shine extra bright. Traveling family will appreciate walking into a home that looks ready for all the festivities, and it can help spread the holiday spirit among tired family.
Plan activities in advance
While you might have your own daily activities, making sure you have enough things planned to fill the days with family is just as important. Crafts and other activities can help keep everyone engaged, especially if you have younger ones visiting.
Some ideas for activities include:
Homemade Christmas cards
Cookie cutter ornaments
Popcorn garland
Gingerbread houses (if you don’t have the time to make gingerbread, many stores sell kits so you can get right into the decorating fun!)
A holiday movie night
Caroling (this can work especially well in an assisted living community, and your neighbors will love the music you and your family bring.)
Play holiday music
Another way to set the holiday atmosphere is to play holiday music. If you are tech-savvy—or have a helpful grandchild—making a holiday playlist on a music streaming service is a good way to keep the spirit bright. Have everyone send you a list of their favorite holiday songs, and combine them together so everyone can enjoy.
Get out of the house
If you have family coming for several days, then you might need to plan something bigger than gingerbread. See what local activities your community is planning for the holidays, like a holiday play or music concerts. Window shopping, holiday parades, Santa’s village, or driving around to look at light displays are all ways to get the most out of the holidays, and get out of the house for a bit.
Make a sweet treat
You may already know the best ways for you to eat right this winter, but the holidays can be a time to be a little naughty. It’s always best to have meals planned out beforehand to save yourself time and stress, and having something homemade is another way to enjoy holiday fun. Something as simple as cookies any senior can make is a great way to show the family you care. And everyone can get involved in the baking or decorating!
The holidays can be a stressful time, even without the added pressure of entertaining family. Being prepared in advance is the best way to ensure that you aren’t scrambling at the last minute. Having family over can mean a lot of prep work on your part, but the memories you create and the joy that you can spread among those you love the most will make it all worth it.
Low-carb, vegetarian, Mediterranean—whatever your diet, it’s important to get enough protein.
Although research hasn’t yet pinpointed one perfect formula, experts say that the typical “recommended” daily minimums aren’t optimal and that it helps to factor in your weight and activity level to determine how much protein you personally need.
A good baseline for people who exercise at a moderate level is between one-half and three-quarters of a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.
If you weigh 150 pounds, for example, eat between 75 and 112 grams of protein per day.
To lose weight, diets with higher amounts of protein—between 90 and 150 grams a day—are effective and help keep you from losing muscle along with fat.
Since the body uses protein most effectively when you have it at regular intervals, divide your daily intake into four equal amounts for breakfast, lunch, a snack and dinner.
If you work out at a high level, consider eating another 50 grams of protein before you go to bed to help with overnight muscle repair.
You might be familiar with calorie counting, but it’s also important to know how to tally your protein intake.
While one ounce of chicken weighs 28 grams, it contains only about 9 grams of protein. So it takes a 3-ounce portion to deliver 27 grams of protein, or about one-quarter of the average daily need.
27-gram protein portions
3 ounces of fish, turkey, chicken or lean beef
7 ounces plain Greek yogurt
3/4 cup cottage cheese
You can also get high-quality protein from some plant-based foods.
These include tofu, whole grains, legumes and nuts—all better options than eating extra red meat or any processed meats.
There’s no definitive proof coffee drinking lowers the risk of gallstones, but there is an association that merits further study. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
To the many ways in which coffee seems to confer unexpected health benefits, add a lowered risk of painful gallstones.
After tracking nearly 105,000 Danes for an average of eight years, researchers found that those who downed more than six cups per day of the world’s most popular beverage saw their gallstone risk drop by 23%.
“High coffee intake is associated with a lower risk of gallstone disease,” said study author Dr. A. Tybjaerg-Hansen. She’s chief physician of Rigshospitalet’s department of clinical biochemistry at Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.
That’s good news for Danes, 6% of whom drink six or more cups of coffee every day, she said.
But what about the average Dane, who knocks back just two cups a day? Or the average American or Brit who consumes between one to two cups daily? The study has good news for them, too. It turns out that even small amounts of coffee appeared to lower gallstone risk.
Compared to those who abstained from coffee, participants who drank just one cup of Joe a day saw the risk of gallstones dip by about 3%. Meanwhile, those who consumed three to six cups per day saw their risk lide by 17%.
The findings were published recently in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Gallstones are hard pebble-like pieces that can accumulate in the gallbladder, where they can sometimes block bile ducts. When that extremely painful condition develops, surgery to remove them is often the treatment of choice.
So what is it about coffee that seems to diminish risk? Tybjaerg-Hansen said that, for now, “we can only speculate on that.”
But she noted that because caffeine is excreted via the bile, it’s possible that it reduces the amount of cholesterol found in the bile. That could reduce gallstone risk, given that “the development of gallstones depends on a balance largely between cholesterol and bile acids,” Tybjaerg-Hansen explained.
Coffee also stimulates the muscle contractions that move contents though the gastrointestinal tract.
As to whether it’s the caffeine content that serves as coffee’s silver bullet, Tybjaerg-Hansen said, “yes, that is a possibility.” That raises the prospect that tea or chocolate might also lower gallstone risk.
But whatever’s behind coffee’s power, she believes that the team’s subsequent genetic analyses indicate that it’s coffee itself—rather than lifestyle factors common to coffee drinkers—that is at play.
Another expert is not so sure.
Dr. Anthony Bleyer is a professor of nephrology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was not involved in the Danish study and was not previously aware of any link between coffee and gallstone risk.
“(But) it seems every week there is a new story about how coffee may or may not be associated with some benefit,” he cautioned. “Information on coffee is collected in many big databases. It is easy to do a comparison with just about any factor: osteoporosis, weight gain, weight loss, sleep, ulcers, cancer, mortality. You get the picture.”
And Bleyer acknowledged that many people will find studies like this interesting, given that coffee drinking is such a common habit.
“But from a scientific standpoint, I am not a big fan,” he added.
“For one thing, consuming six cups of coffee is quite a lot,” he said, “and the (high level of) caffeine could have big effects on sleep, gastric reflux and on arrhythmias.”
But most importantly, said Bleyer, the things that drive people to drink a lot of coffee in the first place “may also cause other changes in diet.” And it could very well be those dietary changes, rather than coffee itself, that end up affecting gallstone risk.
His bottom line: don’t place too much stock in the power of coffee to reduce gallstone risk.
For now, he said, “these studies show only an association, that is not causative.”
Thanksgiving is coming up Nov. 28th, and whether you are looking for a turkey dinner, a special holiday weekend getaway, or some unique events to celebrate the day, West Michigan has you covered. You’ll find special shopping events, festivals, Thanksgiving Day races, buffets, ready-made dinner options, Small Business Saturday deals, light shows, and more throughout the month to help make your holiday one to remember.
Thanksgiving brunch, dinner, and buffets
If there’s one holiday you would associate withCrane’s Pie Pantry Restaurant and Winery in Fennville, it’s Thanksgiving. Their famous homemade fruit pies are a perfect addition to any gathering around your family table. Crane’s will take orders for baked pies for your Thanksgiving feast up until Tuesday, Nov. 26th for a Wednesday pick-up. This year, in addition to the traditional pumpkin and apple pies, they are offering an extremely limited new Pumpkin Praline Pie, featuring layers of house-made cream cheese and pumpkin filling in their famous pie crust topped with a praline crumble. If you’re thinking of adding it to your Thanksgiving order, call Crane’s at 269.561.2297 to place your order before they run out.
Let Muskegon’s SE4SONS Gastropub create your Thanksgiving dinner. Chef Jeremy and his staff will prepare a wonderful meal, complete with all the fixings, cooking and reheating instructions, and a food thermometer. Choose your menu and place your order by Nov. 22nd and pick up your Thanksgiving meal Wednesday, Nov. 27th between 2-4pm.
Let RedWater Restaurant Group handle the cooking this Thanksgiving. Enjoy salads, roasted turkey, carved ham, prime rib or sirloin, other entrees, side dishes, desserts, and more at one of six available Thanksgiving buffets throughout Grand Rapids and Holland. Reservations are limited with seating every half hour. Visit www.redwaterrestaurantgroup.com/ for more information, or call the restaurant of your choice to reserve your spot. RedWater Restaurant locations include Cork Wine & Grille in Cascade, FireRock Grille in Caledonia, Reds at Thousand Oaks in Grand Rapids, Rush Creek Bistro in Grandville, RedRock Grille in Holland, and Boatwerks Waterfront Restaurant in Holland.
Thanksgiving weekend events
The Zeeland Turkey Trot 8K will begin at 8am Thanksgiving morning. The race begins in the middle of downtown Zeeland and will take runners through the downtown streets. This year’s event will be capped at 1,500 runners, so be sure to sign up in advance.
Muskegon’s 10th Annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot takes place on the Lakeshore Bike Trail and the Muskegon Community College Fitness Center beginning at 9am. This family friendly 5K is the perfect way to jump-start Thanksgiving morning. Get festive, wear a turkey hat, and earn that extra helping at Thanksgiving dinner.
Join the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the Planetarium Double Feature showing of The Queen Light Show and Dark Side: The Light Show in the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium on Friday, Nov. 29th at 7pm. Music enthusiasts will rock out to the music of Queen and Pink Floyd paired with stunning visuals on the planetarium dome. A cash bar will be available before the first show and during a short intermission. Tickets to the Planetarium Double Features will include both light shows, and are $8 for non-members, $4 for members.
Courtesy City of Zeeland
Light up the season during the official lighting of the South Haven community holiday tree at Holiday in the Park, Nov. 29th in Dyckman Park. Ice skating, karaoke, Santa Paws Pet Parade, luminaries, holiday treats, and more will jump-start the holiday spirit and make memories you can reminisce on for years to come.
This Small Business Saturday, the Downtown Holland merchants want to thank the entire community for supporting small business all year round! On Saturday, Nov. 30th, head to Downtown Holland to enjoy a day full of shopping small, fun giveaways, amazing contests, and free Small Business Saturday swag from American Express!
November events to kick off the holiday season
Shop till you drop along Grand Haven Main Street. Stay up late, shop the night away, and save big on all of your holiday gifts Friday,Nov. 8th, 7-10pm. Get your holiday shopping off to an early start and take advantage of the progressive discounts offered by participating merchants. Up to 20% off from 7-8pm, up to 25% off from 8-9pm, and up to 30% off from 9-10pm. Check with participating stores for details.
Get an early start to your holiday shopping… by staying up late. On Friday,Nov. 8th, participating Downtown Holland businesses will stay open late with amazing saving deals from 7-10pm. Make a night of it with dinner and drinks at one of Downtown Holland’s local restaurants or breweries and then get ready to shop and save big with discounts up to 30% for one night only.
Just because summer’s over doesn’t mean that you can’t fill your table with fresh, local and healthy food. The Holland Farmers Market is open every Wednesday and Saturday from 8am-3pm through Saturday, Dec. 21. Stop by to pick up everything you need to make your family’s favorite Thanksgiving dishes or to decorate your home for the holidays. You’ll find apples, squash, onions, potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, cheeses, meats, baked goods, and more at the Market, along with pumpkins, hay bales, corn shocks, wreaths, and greenery.
Nov. 9that 11am is Family Day at Krasl Art Center in St. Joseph. Family Days give adults and children time to learn and create side-by-side in these mini art activities at Krasl Art Center. Practice the art of decorating sugar cookies, while also getting to enjoy your delicious and ephemeral work of art.
The holiday season officially begins in Downtown Holland during the annual Holiday Open House on Saturday,Nov. 16 from 5-8pm. Stroll the decorated streets, enjoy the sounds of carolers singing, pose for a photograph with Santa and his favorite elf, visit the reindeer at the petting corral, and even sample a roasted chestnut. Participating businesses will have holiday merchandise on display and will be offering complimentary holiday refreshments while you shop. And don’t miss the official lighting of the Downtown Holland Christmas tree and the Christmas carol sing-along at the end of the night.
Yuletide classics trumpet the crisp air, welcoming families to holiday activities held during Dowagiac’s Christmas Open House in Southwest MichiganSaturday,Nov. 16th, from 10am to 2pm. Jolly Ole St. Nick greets children within the elegant indoor setting of Wood Fire Italian Trattoria. Enjoy the warm surroundings of the Pompeii Room, where children receive a gift from St. Nick.
Kick off the holiday season right by heading to Lansing on Friday Nov. 22 (the week before Thanksgiving) for Silver Bells in the City. The city will glow with thousands of lights, bringing together family and friends from across Michigan and beyond. The Electric Light Parade, Silver Bells Village, lighting of the State Christmas Tree, fireworks over the Capitol dome, and musical entertainment are all part of this Lansing tradition.
Courtesy St. Joseph Today
The Muskegon Museum of Art Festival of Trees returns Nov. 20th through Dec. 1st for its 15th year as a community holiday tradition. Professionally-designed themed trees and décor will be available for purchase through silent auction over the 11 days of the Festival. Raffles, music, holiday shopping, and special events will add to the fun. Special events include the popular Teddy Bear Breakfast, visits with Santa, Deck Your Halls decorating demo workshop, a holiday concert with Max & Ruth Bloomquist and Julia and the Greensides, Family Day, and Senior Day. Festival admission is $10 for adults, $5 for Museum members, $3 for children 3-17 years old, and free for children under 3. An All-Festival Pass is available for $15. The Muskegon Museum of Art Festival of Trees is open daily 10am-5pm, Sundays noon-5pm. MMA will be closed Thanksgiving day.
Experience an authentic European open-air Christmas market filled with handcrafted holiday items, delicious food, and artisan demonstrations at Holland’s Kerstmarkt 8th Street Marketplace. Open Fridays and Saturdays Nov. 23rd-Dec. 14th.
Keyed to the music of the holiday season, Let It Snow light show at Grand Rapids Public Museum features a variety of festive classics from Frank Sinatra and Chuck Berry to Burl Ives and Brenda Lee. It includes a stunning multimedia finale by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The soundtrack is visually enhanced with thematic animation, laser imagery, and special effects. Great for all ages, especially families, the show runs Nov. 29th through Jan. 5th.
The Zeeland City Christmas tree and Magical Christmas Parade bring the holiday season downtown on Dec. 2nd beginning at 6:15pm.
The holidays bring joy to many of us, but they aren’t always so kind to our overall health.
We may feel stressed from trying to do too much, working to please everyone, getting less sleep, exercising less and constantly trying to avoid all the unhealthy food that comes with the holidays.
To make matters worse, all that stress combined with less sleep makes our bodies crave sugar and then store it as belly fat. Yikes! Add alcohol to the mixture, and hot flashes and night sweats can occur, making the holiday roller coaster even worse.
You may think you are destined to gain extra weight during this time of year, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
You can either read this blog and feel depressed when you are done, or you can take the information and use it as a guide for how to enjoy the holidays the healthy way. All it takes is a little planning and some self control.
Let’s use a patient I’ll call Lisa as an example of how to enjoy the holidays and end up with better health.
Lisa is 51 and just starting menopause. She is taking a low dose of hormones, and she still experiences an occasional hot flash if she forgets to change her patch, gains a few extra pounds, drinks too much wine, is sleep deprived, or forgets to drink enough water.
When Lisa came to see me for her annual check up, she was very worried about the holidays—specifically weight gain.
Like many people, Lisa had several stressors she knew she would be tackling. She was trying to coordinate extended family events to be sure certain family members wouldn’t be together at the same time.
Lisa was also preparing herself mentally for the arrival of her college-age kids. She was excited to see them, of course, but she knew it would be an adjustment for everyone after settling in to their new routines. In addition, Lisa worked full time and was barely able to stick to her exercise routine because of frequent late meetings.
Adding the stress of the holidays could challenge her exercise and eating habits even more. She had just settled into a solid sleep routine and didn’t want holiday to-do lists and night sweats to upset that routine. It was time to make a plan.
Lisa had already outlined her goals, and when she came to see me, she shared them with me. She wanted to:
Not have hot flashes.
Continue her solid sleeping pattern.
Not gain weight.
Be happy and enjoy her family in the midst of potential conflicts and overload.
Lisa had already learned her symptom triggers (inadequate sleep,
wine, sugar, stress and excitement), and she knew her barriers
(full-time work schedule, extra events on her calendar, and holiday
baking and shopping for everyone). Her next step was figuring out how to
accomplish everything while avoiding triggers.
I was confident Lisa could attain her goals with planning, preparation and a few simple rules.
Lisa was aware that if she took care of herself she would be happier, healthier, able to accomplish more, and just more fun to be around. So she committed to planning out each week during the month of December.
Every Sunday afternoon she would make a prioritized list of things she needed to accomplish and break it down by daily tasks. Lisa included meal plans, exercise, work events, family time, changing her patch, taking her vitamins and sleep on her daily list. This would ensure she wouldn’t forget anything or have any excuses for not getting these things done.
Next, Lisa outlined a few rules for herself. She knew certain foods triggered issues like night sweats, weight gain and frustration, so she committed to the following rules:
No carbs after 3pm (unless one glass of wine was the sugar treat for the day).
Limit simple carbs to one serving per day.
Drink eight glasses of water per day.
Watch what she ate at holiday parties (choose lean meats, veggies and salad over carbs when available).
Exercise vigorously, even if it meant shorter workouts, to accommodate other obligations.
Make sleep a priority and stick to her pre-bedtime ritual: Five minutes of gratitude and metered breathing and no screen time. She also vowed to get up immediately in the middle of the night if she awoke (instead of tossing and turning, worrying about things she needed to get done).
As you can see, Lisa made a plan designed to help her make it through
the holidays in good health. She set goals and made some rules to help
her plan become a reality.
You can achieve success as well by setting your own goals, knowing your symptom triggers, listing your barriers and outlining the rules that will help you realize those goals.
Kratom is often marketed as a safe alternative to opioid painkillers, but this unregulated substance poses a significant health risk. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
Calls to U.S. poison control centers related to the herbal drug kratom have skyrocketed, increasing more than 50-fold in a matter of six years, a new study shows.
Back in 2011, poison centers received about one call a month regarding someone who’d taken too much kratom, a plant that is purported to produce mild opioid-like effects.
These days, nearly two calls a day are received concerning kratom exposures, researchers report in a recent issue of the journal Clinical Toxicology.
“We’re now getting literally hundreds of cases a year versus 10 or 20,” said researcher Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus. He noted that kratom reports underwent a “relatively big spike” sometime between 2015 and 2016.
The researchers identified 11 deaths associated with kratom use, including two in which kratom was used by itself and nine where kratom was used with other drugs.
Unfortunately, kratom is being promoted as a safe alternative to opioid painkillers for people with chronic pain, Spiller said.
“Because it’s a plant and it’s natural, at this point it’s unregulated,” Spiller said. “A lot of people have been Google-searching it for use in chronic pain and other things and we’ve started to see a really significantly increased use and, in many cases, abuse of it.”
But taking too much kratom can cause some unintended health problems, including agitation, seizures, rapid heart rate and high blood pressure, Spiller said. In extreme cases, kratom overdose can put a person into a coma, stop their breathing or cause kidney failure.
“Just because it’s natural doesn’t mean it’s harmless,” Spiller said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning to consumers against using kratom and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has listed it as a “drug of concern.”
Kratom has not been approved for any medical use by the FDA.
For this study, researchers analyzed calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers between 2011 and 2017, finding more than 1,800 reports related to kratom use.
The annual number of calls increased dramatically, going from 13 calls in 2011 to 682 calls in 2017, researchers found.
About two of every three of these calls occurred recently, in either 2016 or 2017.
About a third of the calls resulted in a person needing hospitalization and more than half resulted in serious medical outcomes, the researchers said.
“The belief that kratom is harmless because it is classified as an herbal supplement is directly challenged by the findings in this report—and policy efforts need to address this knowledge gap,” said Dr. Harshal Kirane, director of addiction services at Staten Island University Hospital.
Most dangerous kratom exposures occurred among males (71 percent), adults aged 20 and older (89 percent), in a home (86 percent) and involving intentional abuse or misuse (60 percent), findings show.
Although kratom appears confined to adult use for now, children and teenagers could be exposed to the herb if its popularity keeps increasing, said Kirane, who wasn’t involved with the study.
“The dramatic increase in the rate of reported kratom exposures in recent years suggests a growing demand for this substance,” Kirane said. “Increasing prevalence of kratom use may place young children in dangerous situations, particularly if regulatory measures are not in place to ensure childproof packaging and consistency in quality of kratom.”
Idaho and Oregon are the states with the most reported kratom poisonings, while Delaware and Wisconsin had the lowest rates.
Using kratom with another substance significantly raised a person’s chances of poisoning, nearly tripling the odds that they’d land in a hospital and more than doubling the risk of having a serious medical outcome.
Of the nine deaths involving a mixture of kratom with another substance, kratom was the first-ranked substance in seven, researchers said. The deaths involved kratom used alongside antihistamines, alcohol, benzodiazepines (such as Valium or Xanax), caffeine, fentanyl or cocaine.
“Though the drug claims to cure anxiety and depression, there are very few ‘cure-alls’ in the medical world and anything that claims to alter an individual’s mental state should be taken with the utmost seriousness,” said Dr. Teresa Amato. She is chair of emergency medicine at Northwell Health’s Long Island Jewish Forest Hills in New York City.
“We, as doctors, are unable to tell patients how this ‘medication’ might affect them and cannot in good conscience advise the use of this medicine without a thorough FDA investigation,” said Amato, who had no part in the study.
People should be aware that kratom can interact with medications or illicit drugs in harmful ways and could exacerbate existing health problems, Spiller said.
There’s also a concern that because it’s unregulated, people may be getting kratom that either varies in potency or is mixed with other substances, he added.
“I’d be cautious,” Spiller said. “At this point, we’re not sure of everything kratom does.”
Pregnant women in particular should be careful with kratom.
The researchers identified seven babies who had been exposed to kratom in the womb, three of whom required admission to a critical care unit after birth.
Five of the babies experienced withdrawal symptoms from their mothers’ kratom use and four of those had been exposed to kratom alone.
“I would very much caution pregnant women,” Spiller said. “You can have a real impact on your child.”
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
Albert Camus
Early Trick or Treat
The City of Wyoming and its Parks and Recreation will offer the community a Trick or Treat Trail, a free event for kids and families, on Saturday, Oct. 12, at Lamar Park. Go here for complete information.
Craft, crafts and more crafts
You want me at that craft show? You need me at that craft show? You can handle me at that craft show. We got a list. Go here for complete information.
Woodland Mall’s Von Maur wing. (Photo Credit: WKTV)
Merriment at the Mall
The opening of the new Von Maur at the Woodland Mall is only the biggest of the happenings at Kentwood’s shopping focal point this weekend. Go here for complete information.
Fun fact:
135 minutes
Average amount of time spent at a shopping mall when people go to one. Source.
After a series of soft openings and VIP/media tours of the Woodland Mall’s new Von Maur wing, the public will get a chance to explore, shop and enjoy a series of special events this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-13.
Woodland Mall is located in Kentwood at the intersection of East Beltline and 28th Street SW.
In addition to the Von Maur department store, other new or newly relocated retail businesses in the Von Maur wing include Williams Sonoma, Urban Outfitters and Paddle North — and Black Rock Bar and Grill will officially open. (Spoiler alert: The Cheesecake Factory is opening its doors on Tuesday, Nov. 5.)
Among the highlights of a Thursday media tour was a visit to the expanded classroom and event kitchen at Williams Sonoma (events to be announced soon), a unique self-checkout option at Urban Outfitters (instruction available) and inflatable paddle boards at Paddle North (which fit into an amazingly lite bag).
Among the Saturday events are the official opening of Von Maur with a ribbon cutting at 9:45 a.m.; family entertainment in the wing from noon to 2 p.m., including a balloon artist, hula hoop performer Cosmic Candy treats and a Claire Bear character; and a create a little harvest monster craft event at the JCPenney Kids Zone.
Among the Sunday events are live music with Lana Chalfoun at 1 p.m.; a “Torrid Fashion Show” at 2 p.m.; DJ music from 3-6 p.m.
The Downtown Market will host a hands-on event to make the classic chinese food favorite xiaolongbao — traditional soup dumplings. Go here for complete information.
Slow down and eat
Metro Health-University of Michigan Healthhas a workshop with fall cooking written all over it — how to prepare delicious, low fuss slow cooker meals. Go here for complete information.
Good for all ages
Vista Springs Assisted Living offers a few hand-picked, heart-healthy, antioxidant loaded recipes because perfect for autumn evenings, warm colors, and the bountiful harvest we receive every year. Go here for complete information.
Fun fact:
50 million
About 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed each Thanksgiving. Source.
From last year’s “Connecting the Dots” event. (HQ)
By WKTV Staff ken@wktv.org
HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing, two local groups which play “distinct and invaluable roles in the process of moving youth from crisis to housed,” will be hosting a collaborative fundraising event later this month in Grandville.
“Connecting the Dots: Walking with Youth from Crisis to Housed” will take place Thursday, Oct. 10, from 6-9 p.m., at the Grandville Banquet Center.
The event is “an exclusive evening of inspiration, food, and learning as we share the innovative collaboration between HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing,” according to supplied material.
“Our organizations serve youth experiencing homelessness or unsafe housing in Kent County. Together, HQ and 3:11 are modeling the power of intentional collaboration, highlighting how organizations can create a greater impact by working together. We believe when organizations intentionally partner to provide a continuum of services, youth are able to overcome crisis sooner and our Grand Rapids community is stronger.”
The event will include the opportunity to mingle and network during a cocktail hour including appetizers, a presentation sharing about the collaborative work of HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing, a sit-down dinner with dessert, an opportunity to win prizes and, most importantly, the “opportunity to make an impact by supporting the work of HQ and 3:11 Youth Housing.”
HQ is a drop-in center serving youth ages 14 to 24, according to supplied material. It offers a “safe space that provides rest, resources, and readiness to youth experiencing unsafe or unstable housing and other forms of crisis.” Youth have access to basic needs such as hot meals, showers, and laundry. Additionally, youth are connected to community partners and resources that help provide advocacy services, education & employability skill-building, and connections to affordable housing.
Youth at HQ have the opportunity to be referred to housing with 3:11 and other partners.
3:11 Youth Housing. according to supplied material, “develops safe, affordable housing for youth ages 18 to 24 who are experiencing homelessness and partners in their transition to healthy interdependence.” Four components essential to 3:11’s model are safe and affordable housing, house mentoring, case management, and alumni support.
The Grandville Banquet Center is located at 2900 Wilson Avenue SW, Grandville. Tickets are $85, are available here.
It’s not always possible to lower cholesterol through diet alone—sometimes there’s no way to override your DNA. Sometimes medication becomes a must.
But certain foods can be part of the plan to improve your numbers, to both lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the bad one, and raise your high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the good one.
First, choose foods with soluble fiber.
Think of this type of fiber as a magnet, drawing cholesterol out of your body. Good sources are oats, oat bran and barley, along with beans, eggplant and okra. When used in recipes, these foods tend to take on the flavors of other ingredients, so be adventurous with recipe planning—and generous with herbs and spices.
Apples, grapes, strawberries and citrus fruits are good choices because of their pectin, a type of soluble fiber.
Next, go for foods with polyunsaturated fats. These include vegetable oils like canola, sunflower and safflower, as well as fatty fish like salmon, rich with omega-3 fatty acids, and most types of seeds and nuts.
Plant-based foods also contain substances called plant sterols and stanols, which help keep the body from absorbing cholesterol.
Particularly good sources are Brussel sprouts, wheat germ and wheat bran, peanuts and almonds, and olive, sesame and canola oils.
In terms of foods to limit, talk to your doctor about your unique needs. High-cholesterol foods like shellfish and eggs aren’t as dangerous as once thought. The verdict is still out on the saturated fat found in meat, but some research has found that full-fat yogurt, milk and even cheese may be good for you.
The one type of fat to completely avoid is trans fat.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned its addition to foods in 2018, but because of extensions granted to some manufacturers, certain items could be on store shelves until January 2021. So keep checking the ingredients on any packaged foods you’re considering.
On any given day, 1 in 5 American youngsters don’t drink any water at all, a new survey shows.
And those who don’t end up consuming almost twice as many calories from sugar-sweetened beverages.
That, investigators warn, translates into an extra 100 calories per day, which over time can raise the risk for becoming overweight or obese.
“Drinking water is the healthiest beverage to drink,” said study author Asher Rosinger, director of the Water, Health and Nutrition Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University. “Water is an essential nutrient that is critical to proper physiological and cognitive functioning.”
By contrast, sugary drinks “are problematic because they have been linked to many negative health conditions, such as weight gain, dental caries (cavities), and type 2 diabetes,” said Rosinger. He noted that current guidelines recommend limiting daily intake of added sugars to less than 10% of all calories consumed.
“Kids should drink water every day and it should be the first option (parents) go to when their kids are thirsty,” Rosinger said.
In the study, data was collected from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between 2011 and 2012 and between 2015 and 2016.
About 8,400 children, aged 2 to 19, reported whether they drank water each day—although amounts were not quantified—and how much of sugar-sweetened beverages they routinely consumed.
The latter included all non-diet sodas, sweetened fruit juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, and/or presweetened tea and coffee drinks. Zero-calorie diet sodas and drinks, 100% fruit juices and unsweetened coffee and teas were excluded.
Among the 1 in 5 who didn’t drink any water daily, sugared-drink calories totaled 200, on average, compared with 100 calories a day among water drinkers.
Sugared-drink habits varied somewhat by race, however. For example, white non-water drinkers were found to consume more additional calories from sugared drinks than Hispanic non-water drinkers (123 extra calories per day versus 61 extra calories per day).
Regardless, are such relatively low amounts of excess calories really a big deal? Yes, say investigators, who point out that taking in an extra 3,500 calories means packing on an extra pound.
That breaks down to just a little more than a month of 100 extra calories per day.
Rosinger did note that sugary drink consumption among American children has dropped over the last 15 years.
But he added that “there are still pockets and sub-populations that have high consumption levels. (So) it’s critical to identify which kids are particularly at risk for high sugar-sweetened beverage intake, since this can lead to these negative health effects.”
On that front, Rosinger noted that water insecurity due to contamination “is a growing problem in the U.S., so we need to keep that in mind as important context, especially when it comes to parents who may be giving their kids soda or juice because they distrust the water. Therefore, it’s critical to ensure that everyone has access to safe, clean water.”
The findings were published recently in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Lona Sandon is program director in the department of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. She said the findings “confirm what I have seen in practice: If someone is not drinking water, they are drinking something else, likely soft drinks or other sugary drinks.” She was not involved with the study.
Sandon’s advice to parents? “Provide water and low-fat plain milk at the table. Keep flavored milk only for special occasions. Avoid purchasing soft drinks or other fruit juice-type drinks that are laden with added sugar.
“Try no-calorie, flavored seltzer water instead. Make a no-soft drink or other sugary drinks rule in the household. Save them for special occasions. Keep 100% fruit juice to 1 cup per day. Keep sports drinks for sports, not with meals, and only if the child will be exercising for more than an hour.”
After a little heat wave, fall is in the air. Families and friends gather around the television to watch football, and the leaves are just starting to turn color. There are many things to love about fall, but some of our favorites are the foods we associate with the season. We have hand-picked these heart-healthy, antioxidant loaded recipes because they remind us of cozy autumn evenings, warm colors, and the bountiful harvest we receive every year, here in the Midwest.
Appetizers and soups
Baked Brie Envelopes: These bite-sized pastries feature melty brie cheese paired with the beautiful fall flavors of cranberry, citrus, and cinnamon. With the perfect amount of sweet and salty, these tasty morsels can hold their own as an appetizer or a stand-alone snack.
Three Sisters Soup: The name of this hearty soup refers to the Native American practice of planting squash, beans, and corn together. In each stage of their lives, these plants would nurture one another and encourage a good harvest. This soup is creamy, and packed with protein and fall flavor for a dish suitable as a companion to a main course, or on its own for quiet evenings.
Main dishes
Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Apples: This delicious dish is great for chilly autumn days, with the smells of tender pork and roasting apples in the oven warming you inside and out. Apple picking is one of many great fall activities for seniors and their loved ones, as is making and eating a meal together. As this dish is low in saturated fat and high in protein, everyone is sure to get plenty of energy for fall fun.
Fennel-Garlic Braised Brisket with Roasted Peppers and Potatoes: With a name that’s just as much of a delicious mouthful as the meal itself, this brisket is rustic and wholesome. This heart-healthy recipe is easy-going, and makes plenty for everybody at the table — plus leftovers for sandwiches. EatingWell.com suggests a “flat” or “first” cut of brisket for a leaner meat, and to be sure to call your market to make sure they have what you want.
Desserts and snacks
Apple Nachos: Make good use of your apple-picking adventures with these fun apple “nachos.” Drizzled with peanut butter and honey, and topped with dried fruits and roasted nuts, this snack allows the many wonderful flavors of Midwest apples to shine. Combine sweet, tart, and spicy apples for maximum fall flavor, and make sure to snag a few slices before they all disappear.
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Toasted Pumpkin Seeds: Pumpkins are fun for carving and decorating as well as eating, but make sure not to throw away the seeds. This recipe for toasted pumpkin seeds is sweet and savory with a little cayenne kick. Great as a snack, dessert, or even as a topper for soups and salads, pumpkin seeds contain tons of healthy vitamins and minerals. Who knew?
With all the fun of fall to experience, these healthy autumn recipes will be sure to get you excited for activities like hayrides, apple picking, and more. It’s always amazing how the nutritious produce grown in our backyards can be transformed into these heart-warming meals. Just be sure to make a little extra and pack them along for those longer adventures!
About two dozen genetic variations help determine if a person is prone to carrying weight around the belly, according to new research. (Courtesy Spectrum Health Beat)
A large, new study has uncovered 24 genetic variations that help separate the apple-shaped people from the pear-shaped ones.
Researchers said the findings help explain why some people are prone to carrying any excess weight around the belly. But more importantly, they could eventually shed light on the biology of diseases linked to obesity—particularly abdominal obesity.
While obesity is linked to a range of health conditions, excess fat around the middle seems to be a particular risk factor for certain diseases—like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
“But we haven’t really known why,” said lead researcher Ruth Loos, a professor at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, in New York City.
Her team dug into the genetics underlying body fat distribution. If researchers can learn about the important gene variants, Loos explained, they can better understand why some people develop diabetes or heart disease when they gain weight, while others do not.
The findings, published online recently in Nature Genetics, come from a huge international research effort, looking at over 476,000 people at 70 research centers around the world.
Loos and her colleagues focused on hunting down so-called coding variations—differences within genes that have the potential to alter the way that genes and their proteins function.
In the end, the scientists discovered two dozen coding variations that were associated with body fat distribution. Some of those variations have already been linked to processes such as blood sugar control and fat metabolism.
In general, Loos said, genes linked to obesity can be separated into two broad groups. One group acts on the brain, influencing how much you eat by regulating hunger and satiety.
“The gene variations we identified in this study don’t act in the brain,” Loos said. “They work at the cellular level, determining where fat will be stored in the body.”
It all raises the possibility of developing medications that can “tweak” those genetic pathways so that body fat is redistributed in a healthier way, according to Loos.
But that’s a long way off, she stressed.
The next step, Loos said, is to learn more about how these gene variations function in the body.
No one, however, is saying that body weight and shape are genetically set in stone.
Dr. Carl Lavie is medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at the Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute, in New Orleans.
“Genes are involved in the development of obesity and where the fat is distributed,” Lavie said. “However, the evidence is much stronger for environmental causes.”
Those causes are no surprise: Lavie pointed to sedentary lifestyles and sugary, high-calorie diets.
“Regardless of a person’s genetic profile,” he said, “physical activity and reducing calorie intake can prevent obesity and abdominal obesity—and prevent it from progressing.”
Plus, Lavie noted, exercise boosts a person’s cardiovascular fitness level—which is a critical factor in the risk of developing or dying from heart disease.
Loos agreed that genes are not destiny.
“Obesity is partly genetic,” she said. “We should not forget that diet and exercise are very important.”
However, she added, people with a genetic predisposition toward storing belly fat will have a harder time keeping a trim, heart-healthy waistline.
