JustCare

Category: Living well

  • Improving our food would improve our health

    Improving our food would improve our health

    Back in January, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule that would change food labeling in ways that could improve our health. More recently, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., proposed that the FDA reconsider its rule permitting substances Generally Recognized As Safe into our food. Will these changes happen and, if they do, will they improve our health?

    Both the HHS and the FDA say they are committed to helping Americans know exactly what’s in the food they are eating. Eliminating substances “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS) from our food supply would be a huge step towards achieving this goal. GRAS tend to be chemicals in our food, about which we know very little, if anything. They might not be safe.

    Eliminating GRAS from our food would also make it easier for the FDA to oversee our food supply. “For far too long, ingredient manufacturers and sponsors have exploited a loophole that has allowed new ingredients and chemicals, often with unknown safety data, to be introduced into the U.S. food supply without notification to the FDA or the public,” said Secretary Kennedy. “Eliminating this loophole will provide transparency to consumers, help get our nation’s food supply back on track by ensuring that ingredients being introduced into foods are safe, and ultimately Make America Healthy Again.”

    But, Kennedy is cutting 20 percent of the FDA’s workforce, reports Christina Jewett for the New York Times. Consequently, 3,500 fewer people are ensuring our food safety and medical device safety, approving new drugs, preventing outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, and much much more. Without strong FDA oversight, there’s much to fear about the safety of our food and health care.

    Moreover, the FDA will face strong pushback from the food industry. Today, the food industry can simply inject substances GRAS into foods without even letting the FDA know. Companies can self-affirm that new ingredients in foods are safe. If RFK Jr. prevails, food companies would have to notify the FDA of their plan to use GRAS substances in their foods and provide the FDA with whatever safety data they had before they could use these substances.

    Meanwhile, prior to President Trump taking office, the FDA issued a proposed rule that would require companies to put nutrition labels on the front of food packages to help Americans better understand the ingredients in their foods. The rule would change nutrition labels so that they reflected whether a product has low, medium or high levels of sodium, and saturated fat, reports Sarah Todd for Stat News.

    If finalized, the nutrition labeling rule might might lead food companies to produce healthier food. The FDA, under the Biden administration, claimed that the rule would help fight chronic disease, including cancer and diabetes. These diseases are associated with diets that are high in saturated fats, salt and added sugars. Four in ten Americans have two or more chronic conditions and six in ten have at least one chronic condition.

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  • How to reach age 70 free of major chronic conditions

    How to reach age 70 free of major chronic conditions

    New research reveals that people who eat healthy in midlife increase the likelihood that they will reach the age of 70 without major chronic conditions, reports Maya Goldstein for the Harvard School of Public Health. What does it mean to eat healthy?

    The Mediterranean diet is one way to go to increase your odds of living free of chronic conditions into your 70’s. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, nuts and legumes. Avoid eating ultraprocessed foods, drinks with sugar added, salt, and refined grains. And, minimize eating meat, particularly red meat.

    Following a diet of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, with minimal red meat, sugar and salt, should promote both your physical and your mental health and well-being, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Montreal and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their research was just published in Nature Medicine. You are more likely to be able to live independently and have a good quality of life.

    The researchers looked at the diets of 105,000 health professionals between the ages of 39 and 69 over 30 years. They studied men and women. But, they did not look at people of differing socio-economic status.

    People who ate more processed meat, drinks with sugar, diet drinks, and other ultraprocessed foods, reduced their odds of living free of chronic conditions into their 70’s. The researchers further found that a healthy diet comes in a lot of varieties. People can eat more or less of the fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes that they like.

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  • Warning: Poor sleep can increase risk of dementia

    Warning: Poor sleep can increase risk of dementia

    Judy George reports for MedPage Today on new findings published in Neurology showing that women in their 80’s with poor sleep patterns are at increased risk for dementia. In fact, older women, who had no cognitive issues but whose sleep changed over five years and became increasingly sleepy, doubled their odds of dementia.

    The good news: The study found no link between older women who slept less at night and dementia.

    The bad news: The study found a link between changing sleep patterns of older women and dementia, as compared with women who had steady sleep patterns.

    The researchers found that for women in their 80’s, sleep patterns can change dramatically over the course of just five years. They looked at nighttime sleep, as well as circadian rhythms and napping.

    Pay attention to your sleep patterns. The researchers say that “Initiatives focusing on improving sleep efficiency, encouraging lifestyle changes, and implementing cognitive interventions may be essential in mitigating dementia risk in the aging population.”

    When older people’s sleep is disturbed, it can seriously affect their risk of dementia. The more sleepy older women become, the more at-risk they are. We need good sleep for our mental health.

    What can you do to improve your sleep?

    • Develop a sleep routine. Set a daily bedtime and wake-up time and stick to it. If you have an iphone or ipad, the clock app has a helpful bedtime setting. In addition to tracking your sleep, it turns off all the sounds on the device during bedtime hours.
    • Exercise daily. Even 20 to 30 minutes a day of exercise can help you sleep soundly.
    • Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine, especially directly before you go to sleep.
    • Relax before bedtime. Do something quiet and calming–take a bath, listen to classical music, read a book.
    • Let the sun wake you up. Bright sunlight has been shown to reset your biological clock.
    • Only go to sleep when you’re ready to fall asleep. It can be anxiety-producing and cause insomnia to lay in bed awake trying to sleep if you don’t feel tired.
    • See a doctor if you continue to struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep at night.  You might have sleep apnea, which can interrupt your sleep throughout the night. There are effective cures. Here are five proven interventions for sleeplessness or insomnia.

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  • Is sugar addictive?

    Is sugar addictive?

    The scientists and researchers do not consider sugar to be addictive, at least not in the same way as alcohol or nicotine or opiates, writes Frank Hu, the Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Harvard Gazette. But, there’s no question that people have cravings for sugar and cannot resist eating it. Sugar has real effects on our bodies and minds and some addictive qualities.

    Sugar is in so many of the foods we know and love. Ultra-processed foods usually contain sugar as well as fats and salt. And all of these ingredients contribute to our wanting to eat even more. When we don’t, we can feel it.

    Many people have serious symptoms when they don’t eat. They get headaches or anxious or dizzy. It is challenging for a lot of people to give up these unhealthy foods.

    Of course, there are plenty of healthy foods, like fruits, that contain sugar. And, we should not even think of giving those up. That makes sugar very different from alcohol and cigarettes, which offer no health benefits.

    Eating reasonable amounts of sugar is a good thing and should not negatively affect your health or your mood. In fact, it can make you happy!

    How much added sugar do Americans eat a day? The data show that the typical person has 20 teaspoons of added sugar each day or 300 calories! This sugar comes from drinks, candies and snacks.

    The recommended amount of added sugar, according to the American Heart Association, is a maximum of nine teaspoons a day for men and six for women, still less for kids.

    What to do? Pay attention to how much extra sugar you are eating. Read food labels. Don’t give all the added sugar up immediately but, rather, slowly, eat fewer foods with added sugar.

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  • Can early detection of dementia reduce your risk significantly?

    Can early detection of dementia reduce your risk significantly?

    Dementia rates are rising, reports Keren Landman for National Geographic. In BBC Science, Anthea Rowan reports on how early detection of dementia could reduce your risk significantly. Right now, most people incorrectly assume there’s no fighting dementia; it comes with growing old.

    A recent study in Nature Medicine reports that in the next 35 years, one million Americans will have dementia, double the number today. The good news is that more Americans are living into their 80’s and 90’s, when people are more likely to get dementia. This helps explain the rise in the number of Americans with dementia. However, more than four in ten Americans could develop dementia. How does it develop?

    Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Washington State have found that Alzheimer’s develops in two stages.  There’s a slow “stealth” phase, affecting only a relatively small number of brain cells. And, there’s a fast aggressive phase in which memory and functional lapses affect a person’s ability to manage.

    Two proteins are primarily responsible for causing cognitive decline and dementia: amyloid and tau. They result in disrupted communication between nerve cells and keep cells from functioning properly, leading to their death. Your brain’s neurons lose their equilibrium.

    Some researchers believe that dementia’s first “stealth” phase presents opportunities to detect, intervene and prevent symptoms. Detection might be possible through an MRI, spinal lumbar punctures and, even, blood tests.  But, these tests can be expensive and cumbersome. A new potentially simpler and less expensive test is in the works and should be available in the next decade.

    What can you do now to reduce your risk of dementia or, at the very least, delay it? The health of your brain is closely tied to the health of your heart. So, take care of your heart! Monitor and treat your blood pressure and cholesterol. And, there’s more!

    The Lancet offers 14 things you can do to lower your risk of dementia by as much as 45 percent:

    • Be sure to exercise, including strength training.
    • Use a hearing aid if you have trouble hearing. Even losing a small amount of your hearing can increase your risk of dementia two-fold.
    • Ensure you have good vision.
    • Stay socially engaged.
    • Don’t smoke.
    • Keep a healthy weight.
    • Don’t drink a lot of alcohol.
    • If you have diabetes, be sure to keep it in check.
    • Helmet use for kids while playing sports to minimize the risk of head injuries.
    • Good education.
    • Cognitively stimulating activities.
    • Effective depression treatment.

    Even if you can’t prevent dementia, you can slow it down and gain yourself a longer, healthier life.

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  • Who’s your health care buddy?

    Who’s your health care buddy?

    There are many benefits of being “all in it together,” but many of us still prefer the “every man for himself” way of life. Whatever your preference, there’s no question that having a buddy can do wonders for your health.

    The evidence suggests that having someone to talk, walk, shop and/or dine with offers mental, physical, emotional, social and psychological support. Take note: People who live in relative isolation have as high a risk of dying early as people who smoke.

    Even spending time with the postman or the grocer–casual buddies–is good for your health. The more people you spend time with the more likely you will fare better. Why? It’s not clear. But, it could be that people who engage with others are more inclined to care for themselves.

    When it comes to health care, having a buddy–be that person a spouse, a sibling, a child or a parent–is really important. The greater your health care needs, the more important it is for you to have a buddy. Buddies can be a second set of eyes and ears for you at the doctor’s office and can also help coordinate your care.

    Especially if you have one or more chronic conditions, ask your buddy to go to the doctor’s office with you. It’s always dizzying and stressful to be alone with a doctor. It’s hard to listen, ask questions and take notes about all the things you need to do. That’s what a buddy can help with.

    It’s even more important to bring a buddy with you to the hospital. Hospitals are often understaffed and unable to focus on your needs all the time. A buddy can help ensure your needs are met. A buddy also can help prevent or reduce the chance of medical mistakes and delirium when you’re moving from one care facility to another.

    Your buddy can ensure you get any new prescriptions filled and that you understand how to care for yourself after you leave. Ideally, your buddy can help you with any questions or concerns you have and, if necessary, speak to your doctor on your behalf.

    When it comes to your health and quality of life, buddies matter. Do your best not to go it alone. If you don’t have a buddy, consider making it your mission to find one. Perhaps you can be a buddy for a friend or neighbor and have that friend or neighbor be your buddy.

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  • The health benefits of tea

    The health benefits of tea

    For some time we’ve know that tea has nutritional value. New research shows that tea can eliminate unhealthy elements in your water, reports Amudalat Ajasa for the Washington Post. Tea leaves have some phenomenal powers.

    As it turns out, tea leaves perform two functions. They deliver flavor to your water and they remove the dangerous heavy metals from your water.

    Teal leaves absorb can eliminate lead, cadmium and arsenic in your water, absorbing these heavy metals. The leaves trap these metals. When you remove the leaves or the tea bag from your cup of tea, you also remove these metals.

    The researchers looked at the ways different types of tea behaved, how long you needed to brew the tea to remove heavy metals and how to brew the tea. They looked at tea in bags and loose tea.

    To remove as much heavy metal as possible, steep your tea for as long as possible. A five-minute steep removed about 15 percent of lead, no matter the type of tea. If you steeped your tea overnight, to make iced tea, you remove much more lead.

    Whether the tea is black, green or herbal, the tea leaves absorb the heavy metals. Only chamomile flowers did not remove the metals successfully.

    Whole tea leaves do not do as good a job of removing the metals in your water as ground leaves. The ground leaves have more surface area for the metals to latch onto.

    The most effective tea bags for eliminating metals are made of cellulose, which is biodegradable. Tea bags made of nylon did not work well and also release microplastics into your water. Cotton tea bags also did not perform well.

    It’s hard to assess the health implications of drinking tea, but it is possible that tea drinkers experience fewer sicknesses related to heavy metal exposure.

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  • In winter, expect more chronic conditions

    In winter, expect more chronic conditions

    We all know there are foods and behaviors we need to avoid in order to feel healthy. We might lose sleep or get stomach upset if we eat foods with gluten or drink wine. We might mess up our backs if we lift items that are heavy. Similarly, if we spend too much time in the cold, we might experience symptoms of psoriasis, asthma, arthritis and raynaud’s disease. Heidi Godman reports for Harvard Health on how winter exacerbates chronic conditions.

    Psoriasis causes your skin to grow quickly, developing red patches as a result of dry skin or excess indoor heat. A virus or strep throat in the winter can also lead to psoriasis.

    What can you do to reduce your risk of psoriasis? Don’t spend a lot of time in the shower and avoid using hot water. Humidifiers help, as does a moisturizer on your skin each day immediately after a shower. It’s also helpful to go out into the sun for at least 10 minutes a day, of course, with sunscreen.

    Asthma is a chronic lung condition that results from breathing in pollen or pollution. Your lungs inflame and your airways narrow. Cold air is a trigger, causing your airways to tighten. (NB: If you use an inhaler and you have Medicare, your out-of-pocket costs should come down soon.)

    What can you do to reduce your risk of asthma? Avoid going outside when it’s super cold. And, before you go out, take a precautionary puff of an inhaler. Wear a mask outside to keep your lungs warm. Avoid being near firepit smoke. And, wash your hands frequently when you are around others.

    Raynaud’s disease constricts your blood vessels in cold weather. As a result, your fingers and toes might turn white from lack of blood flow. It can be painful! Raynaud’s disease is particularly common among thin women.

    What can you do to reduce your risk of Raynaud’s disease? Don’t go outside in the very cold unless necessary and wear lots of warm clothing, including a hat, coat, gloves. If possible, use foot and hand warmers. The symptoms tend to fade once you’re back in a warm environment.

    Arthritis tends to flare up in cold weather, causing joint pain. It’s not clear why, the evidence is scanty.

    What can you do to avoid arthritis? Stay warm! Use a heating pad or take a hot shower. Consider wearing a brace on your joint to lower the risk of inflammation. Exercise also can help a lot, reducing inflammation and getting your blood flowing. That should ease your pain. If not, speak to your physician.

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  • Supplements can damage your liver

    Supplements can damage your liver

    Supplements are a multibillion dollar business in the US ($200 billion globally,) with more than half of Americans taking one or more of the 80,000 different supplements sold. But, in most instances, supplements are a waste of money. They provide no benefit or, worse, pose a threat to your health. Ali Patillo reports for National Geographic on the harm some supplements cause to people’s liver.

    What you don’t know about supplements can really hurt you. And, there is no good information helping you to distinguish the supplements that could cause you serious harm from others. It has a lot to do with the ingredients. So, if you care about your health, it’s almost always better to eat a balanced diet and lead a healthy lifestyle  than to take supplements.

    In the last 25 years, researchers have increasingly found liver harm and liver failure associated with supplement use. Indeed, between 20 and 43 percent of liver harm is associated with herbal and vitamin supplements. People end up going to the emergency room. Check out additional resources on supplements on this government website.

    Just last year, one study found that 15 million people in the US take compounds that are known to cause harm to the liver, including: turmeric, ashwagandha, black cohosh, garcinia cambogia, green tea, and red yeast rice.

    If not liver issues, people who take supplements can suffer from changes in their mood, gastrointestinal issues, kidney stones and high blood pressure.

    As with chemical additives in our food, about which we have little clue their effect on our health, toxic compounds in supplements are on the rise, as are dangerous drug interactions and overuse of supplements. Still, more than eight in ten people believe supplements work and are safe, even though they have not been tested. Many Americans resist going to the doctor for a medical condition for a host of reasons. Instead, they trust supplements to treat their conditions.

    In some special cases, supplements can be helpful. Pregnant women might benefit from additional folic acid which prevents birth defects and older adults can benefit from vitamin B12 supplements. But, the available data does not show benefits from the vast majority of supplements.

    To be clear, most people who take the appropriate dose of a substance probably will not be harmed, except financially for spending money on a product that does not benefit them. But, experts advise to avoid supplements with herbal and botanical ingredients and dietary supplements, which present greater risk to people.

    Megadosing supplements is a particularly bad idea. It can disturb your body’s normal functioning. You can end up with headaches, insomnia, gastrointestinal issues and heart problems.

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  • Don’t trust social media for wellness advice

    Don’t trust social media for wellness advice

    You likely see dozens of clips each day providing wellness advice. Unfortunately, a lot of what you see on social media and TV should not be trusted. What should you do? Jude Joffe Block reports for NPR on what’s happening on social media. Reed Abelson and Susanne Craig report for the New York Times on the misleading information that Dr. Oz promotes, while benefiting financially.

    Dr. Oz has promoted Medicare Advantage plans endlessly, without warning people that they could struggle getting the care they need in a Medicare Advantage plan. Insurers offering Medicare Advantage delay and deny care inappropriately and routinely, particularly costly care. They have a powerful financial incentive to do so. Every treatment they delay or deny helps maximize their profits. Like the insurers, Dr. Oz profits from promoting Medicare Advantage.

    Dr. Oz also has profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars from selling supplements, even when there is little or no scientific evidence to show any benefits from the supplements he promotes and, in some cases, people can be harmed.

    Some people are trying to fight online misinformation from wellness influencers with accurate information. That’s tough. You want to be sure that whatever wellness advice you’re taking is based on science and not hokum. You can save money by not consuming products that are of no value or, worse still, harmful to your health.

    Whose wellness advice should you take? You probably should not listen to anyone who makes money from providing wellness advice. Anyone profiting from providing advice has a conflict of interest, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the newly confirmed Secretary of Health and Human Services.

    For example, if you look at the scientific evidence, you should be getting a vaccines for Covid and a range of other conditions, even though RFK Jr. likely disagrees. Medicare covers a range of vaccines. And, for most, you have no out-of-pocket costs so long as you get them from a Medicare participating provider.

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