Unusual Diet Tips from the World's Oldest Person

Here's a real Great-Grandmother:

From Dr. Weil.com

Just over 11 years ago, on Aug. 4, 1997, Jeanne Calment died at age 122. Born Feb. 21, 1875, the lifelong resident of Arles, France, was the oldest person who ever lived whose birth date was reliably confirmed.
Her quick wit, lifetime of exercise (she rode a bicycle until she was 100), and cheerful disposition - “I will die laughing,” she once said - all played a part in her longevity, but two of her dietary habits stand out: She reportedly ate nearly two pounds of chocolate a week, and was “devoted” to port wine.
I do not recommend eating so much chocolate (the caloric load could lead to obesity in many people), nor do I suggest “devoting” yourself to serious wine-drinking. But I will say that Dr. Weil’s Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid is, I believe, the only food pyramid in wide circulation that includes both chocolate and red wine as health-promoting, antioxidant-rich food sources. I make no promises that these additions to an optimal diet will result in such remarkable longevity for everyone, but in moderation they are indeed healthy, and will possibly make a long life more enjoyable as well!

Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Pyramid

Dr. Andrew Weil has been, and continues to be, a strong advocate of a great-grandmother-approved lifestyle. He has created an anti-inflammatory food pyramid. Eating according to the principles outlined in the pyramid should help you reduce inappropriate inflammation, which is a major contributor to many chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancers and Alzheimer’s disease. Check out his excellent website for more: drweil.com.

Buy in Glass Whenever You Can

Common Chemical Linked to Metabolic and Cardiovascular Disorders

Exposure to a chemical commonly used in food packaging materials may be putting millions at an increased risk for cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, and liver abnormalities, researchers here said. Urinary levels of bisphenol A (BPA) were significantly higher in people with diagnoses of angina, coronary heart disease, and diabetes, those who had suffered heart attacks, and those with elevated liver enzymes, reported David Melzer, M.B., Ph.D., of Peninsula Medical School, and colleagues in the Sept. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. BPA is a component of epoxy resins used to line food and beverage containers and in polycarbonate plastics contained in many consumer products. It is also present in drinking water and in household air, in the form of dust. Dr. Melzer and colleagues cited data suggesting BPA is detectable in the urine of 90% of adult Americans.

For more, go to http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/tb/10924

Ah, the Beautiful Mediterranean -- Diet, That is

People who kept to a full Mediterranean diet had lower overall mortality as well as lower mortality from several major chronic diseases, a meta-analysis found.

Greater adherence to the diet was associated with a 9% lower overall mortality, a 9% lower cardiovascular mortality, a 6% lower incidence of or mortality from cancer, and a 13% lower incidence of Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, Francesco Sofi, M.D., of the University of Florence, and colleagues reported online in the British Medical Journal.The Mediterranean diet, widely reported to be a model of healthy eating, is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, nuts, olive oil, and a moderate intake of red wine during meals, but is low in red meat, dairy products, and alcohol.

For more on this go to: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/tb/10887

Yay for Yoghurt

Health Benefits Of Probiotic Could Extend To The Entire Body According To New Study

Probiotics: Data from a recent study demonstrate the anti-inflammatory and pathogen protection benefits of Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 -- a probiotic bacterial strain of human origin. Gastrointestinal benefits of probiotics have been well-documented, but more and more research is revealing that probiotic benefits extend to the entire body. The report was published in the August issue of the Public Library of Science (PLoS) Pathogens.

The inflammatory response is a key part of the immune system's battle against invaders. The normal response to infection is rapid and effective, however, the immune response may occasionally cause inflammation and damage to healthy tissue.

"Inflammation is a major factor in a number of chronic diseases affecting millions of people and can cause an unwanted impact on healthy tissue," said Dr. Liam O'Mahony, lead investigator. "Past research has shown that the probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 can positively impact the body's immune defense3, and this most recent data suggests that its benefits are not restricted to the gastrointestinal tract."

Inflammation is associated with a wide range of conditions, such as inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, bacterial-induced colitis, type I diabetes and organ transplantation. Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 has previously shown ability to modulate the inflammatory response in a clinical trial of patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

Prebiotics too. As probiotics have grown popular, prebiotics have emerged as another category of so-called functional food. Recent studies support the idea that certain compounds—the nondigestible carbohydrates inulin (also known as oligofructose), galactooligosaccharide, and lactulose—can stimulate the growth of friendly bugs in the gut. Prebiotics might have health benefits similar to probiotics, and they're easier to incorporate into one's diet: Consumers can get prebiotics without even buying special products, because many fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other high-fiber foods naturally contain the stuff.

Eat Your Way to Good Vision

Study Reveals How Diet, Antioxidants Prevent Blindness In Aging Population

A new study reveals part of the magic behind a diet rich in antioxidants, showing how artichokes, blueberries and pecans can hold at bay the leading cause of age-related blindness in developed countries.Researchers discovered a link between two processes in the retina that, in combination, contribute to a disease called macular degeneration. They found antioxidants disrupt the link and extend the lifetime of irreplaceable photoreceptors and other retinal cells."The implication is that people at risk of macular degeneration could help prevent the disease by consuming antioxidants," said Heidi Vollmer-Snarr, a Brigham Young University chemist who earned a doctorate from Oxford and began work on this disease as a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia.The study is online and will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Vollmer-Snarr collaborated with researchers at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.Age-related macular degeneration affects more than 1.75 million people in the United States. With a rapidly aging population, that number will rise to 3 million by 2020. People struck with the disease first lose central vision and temporarily adjust by relying more on peripheral vision. Some eventually lose their vision entirely.Dr. Paul Bernstein of the University of Utah's Moran Eye Center says understanding the exact mechanisms of macular degeneration has remained elusive. Bernstein was not involved in the study."This work by Dr. Vollmer-Snarr and colleagues ties these two damaging processes together and demonstrates the harm they cause in combination is much more than would be expected," Bernstein said. "This new knowledge suggests the possibility of interventions which could prove to be powerful ways to prevent or delay age-related macular degeneration."The new study finds a destructive synergy between the buildup of a compound called A2E and damage to cellular "power plants" called mitochondria. A2E is a natural byproduct of cellular activity that, unlike other compounds, won't break down or be disposed by the body.A problem occurs when A2E encounters oxidative stress created by light exposure. In these circumstances, A2E disrupts energy production in mitochondria. The resulting energy shortage pulls the plug on daily cleaning and maintenance of photoreceptors and another type of retinal cell.The result is more A2E buildup, and the cycle of destruction hastens the death of these vital visual cells, which are not replaced when they die. The experiments performed with visual cells from rats, cows and humans showed that antioxidants could completely counter the damage.Seeing this process play out in the retina has given Vollmer-Snarr a novel idea for attacking harmful growths in the body. The strategy would involve delivering potentially disruptive compounds like A2E to the target and then using light to trigger the damage."Why not take a page out of one disease's book in the fight against other diseases?" Vollmer-Snarr said.

Gold standard

Microwaves. Air-conditioning. A computer. Must-haves, now, luxuries, then. An article in MSN Finance tells how to be a great-grandmother with your finances and save big with the flashback budget.

The only part of the article I found silly was the idea of cutting back to one car per family. Maybe that was OK back when women didn't work outside the home. These days, with the exception of a few major cities (San Francisco, New York, Chicago) and those few people who telecommute every day, each working adult in a family needs a vehicle to get to a job.

I found other parts of the article delightfully time-synchronous -- for example, smaller homes are certainly more possible now that we have flat-screen TVs and flat-screen computer monitors. Now if those high-tech items just cost smaller dollars....

Your Brain on Chocolate

Good news chocolate lovers! And that includes everyone except for maybe five people on the planet. A new study shows that cocoa flavanols may help to keep our brains in good shape.

Here's some info from the study:

Cocoa flavanols, the unique compounds found naturally in cocoa, may increase blood flow to the brain, according to new research published in the Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment journal. The researchers suggest that long-term improvements in brain blood flow could impact cognitive behavior, offering future potential for debilitating brain conditions including dementia and stroke. In a scientific study of healthy, older adults ages 59 to 83, Harvard medical scientists found that study participants who regularly drank a cocoa flavanol-rich beverage made using the Mars, Incorporated Cocoapro® process had an eight percent increase in brain blood flow after one week, and 10 percent increase after two weeks. In this first-of-its-kind study, the researchers found both short and long-term benefits of cocoa flavanols for brain blood flow, offering future potential for the one in seven older Americans currently living with dementia. When the flow of blood to the brain slows over time, the result may be structural damage and dementia. Scientists speculate that maintaining an increased blood flow to the brain could slow this cognitive decline. "The totality of the research on cocoa flavanols is impressive. This is just one more study adding to an increasing body of literature connecting regular cocoa flavanol consumption to blood flow and vascular health improvements throughout the body," said Harold Schmitz, Ph.D., chief science officer at Mars, Incorporated, which has supported research on cocoa flavanols for more than 15 years. "Though more research is needed, these findings raise the possibility that flavanol-rich cocoa products could be developed to help slow brain decline in older age."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118581.php

Ashwagandha Can Boost Immunity

If your great-grandmother is from India, she probably knows this:

Oriental medicine practitioners have long known that Ashwagandha, an herb used in the 5,000-year old practice of Ayurvedic medicine, helps fight disease when used with anupana. Anupana may be derived from many different substances, from olive oil, to beer, to ghee. Researchers examined whether consuming whole cows’ milk with the herb can increase the body’s white blood cells, which help boost immunity. They have found that it does.

For more click here: http://www.newswise.com/p/articles/view/543415

Some Fruits and Vegetables Absorb More Pesticides Than Others

We all want to eat organic when we can, to minimize the amounts of pesticides we ingest. But did you know that some fruits and vegetables absorb more pesticides than others? Here’s an alphabetical list of items that are consistently highest and lowest.

High Pesticide Produce:
Apples
Bell peppers (sweet)
Celery
Cherries
Grapes (imported)
Lettuce
Nectarines
Peaches
Potatoes
Spinach
Strawberries

Low Pesticide Produce:
Asparagus
Avocados
Bananas
Broccoli
Cabbage
Corn (sweet)
Eggplant
Kiwi
Mangos
Onions
Papaya
Pineapples
Peas (sweet)

*Adapted from data gathered by the Environmental Working Group.

Sesame Seed Extract And Konjac Gum May Help Ward Off Salmonella And E. Coli

Greatgrandma Nature is so clever.

A new study in the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture shows that konjac gum and sesame seed extract may offer protection against different strains of E. coli and Salmonella bacteria.

The study by Dr Petra Becker et al from Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands, shows that these foodstuffs act as binders for E. coli and Salmonella bacteria. The bacteria attach themselves to the fibrous foods instead of the gut cells of the host.

Dr Becker says that eating a diet full of these foodstuffs may offer protection from gastro-intestinal infections or reduce the severity of symptoms caused by E. coli or Salmonella.

Other foods that were shown to have a beneficial effect included yeast, tomato, and pumpkin.

For more go to: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117363.php

Don't Eat Tilapia

The following is from Dr.Weil.com, which I highly recommend:

A Popular, Unhealthy Fish?
Farm-raised tilapia is one of the most highly consumed fish in America. Yet it has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and very high levels of potentially detrimental omega-6 fatty acids.
That’s according to new research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Tilapia has higher levels of long-chain omega-6 fatty acids than 80-percent-lean hamburger, doughnuts and even pork bacon, says an article in the July, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory, and inflammation is known to cause damage to blood vessels, the heart, lung and joint tissues, skin, and the digestive tract.
For their study, the authors obtained fish from several sources, including seafood distributors that supply restaurants and supermarkets, two South American companies, fish farms in several countries, and supermarkets in four states. They found that farmed tilapia contained only modest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids: less than half a gram per 100 grams of fish, similar to flounder and swordfish. Farmed salmon and trout, by contrast, had nearly 3 and 4 grams, respectively. At the same time, the tilapia had much higher amounts of omega-6 acids.
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This is important information. Cardiologists are telling their patients to eat more fish, but if those patients are buying and eating farm-raised tilapia, they could clearly do better. As a follow-up to this report, a coalition of more than a dozen doctors pointed out that tilapia should be considered a better choice “than most other meat alternatives,” but my response is, why not eat the best fish of all? So I strongly suggest adding wild-caught Alaskan salmon to your diet to get the benefit of their impressive omega-3 fatty acid content and low contaminant load. It is more expensive than tilapia, but a worthy investment in health that will reap dividends in the future

Tricky Triclosan - It's Everywhere and it's Nasty

Best known as the active ingredient in antimicrobial hand soaps, triclosan is also used as an antibacterial agent in toothpaste, deodorants, laundry detergent, facial tissues, antiseptics for wounds, and medical devices.
It is used as a material preservative to ward off bacteria, fungus, mildew, and odors in household items like toys, paints, mattresses, clothing, toilet bowls, and furniture fabric.
Now the Environmental Working Group has called triclosan a toxic pesticide, with ominous hints of carcinogenicity, and has demanded that federal agencies ban it from consumer goods.
"A toxic pesticide linked to serious health problems should not be in our soap or toothpastes," contends EWG scientist Rebecca Sutton, Ph.D. "It's time to ban triclosan from all personal care and household products."
For more go to: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/EnvironmentalHealth/tb/10269

Cell me about it

Do you have old cell phones sitting in drawers or cabinets? Maybe you mean to take them to the police station to use for that program for women who are victims of domestic violence or maybe you plan to take them to Best Buy or Office Depot for recycling, but forget each time to actually go to the store.

Here's a trio of great-grandmotherly motivators to do the right thing -- store credit, cash or a charity.

See, Flipswap (http://flipswap.com/) lets you trade in your old phone one of three ways:

• Credit from a nearby dealer (the Web site has a locator)
• Cash through an online trade-in (after entering information online, Flipswap sends you the box to send in your phone and then sends you a check)
• A charitable donation through an online trade-in (works the same as the cash to you, only the check goes to the charity)

The company then sells the phones to people who want them, usually in poorer countries. Reduce, reuse, recycle -- what a great call!

Screen -- Save It

Good news - screen savers are toast.

Turns out those flying toasters were contributing to a worldwide problem -- global warming. On modern (LCD) monitors, they're not even necessary. They just drag on resources.

So, turn off the flying toasters and select "blank" from your screen saver menu. (This will make a blank screen come up instead of your regular screen saver.)

Factoids:

• A screensaver can use 100-300 watts of power. Sleep mode uses 10 watts.
• When Australian phone company Telstra removed corporate screen savers from the 36,000 computers in its offices, it estimated the CO2 cut to be equal to taking 140 cars off the road for a year.
• Flying toasters haven't been funny in, like, 10 years anyway.

Gar-lickin' good

OK, so it may not be breath-freshening, but garlic can do some pretty important things. The herb lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and inhibits blood clotting. It's also a powerful germicide and may protect against some carcinogens.

Garlic is better for you in its natural state - raw or lightly cooked - rather than dried as powder or in capsules. Simply chewing the stuff isn't practical, though, so here is a recipe for garlic soup to eat on its own or as a base for other soups.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 whole head of garlic
• cloves peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Pinch of dried sage
• Salt to taste

Instructions:

1. To the vegetable stock, add the olive oil, bay leaf, garlic, thyme and sage.
2. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt to taste.
3. Strain and serve.
4. Enjoy!

Oregano is anti-swell? Do tell!

Oregano doesn't only give a pizza its typical taste. Researchers at Bonn University and the ETH Zurich have discovered the spice also contains a substance that appears to help cure inflammations.

The researchers administered the active ingredient - beta-caryophyllin (E-BCP) - to mice with inflamed paws. In seven out of ten cases, symptoms improved. That means E-BCP might possibly help disorders such as osteoporosis and arteriosclerosis.

E-BCP is also found in basil, rosemary, cinnamon and black pepper. Read the rest at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com:80/articles/112876.php.

Seeing the Light

In honor of the first day of hurricane season, I give you: How to Make a Solar Power Generator for Less Than $300.

The website gives some useful information.

May the storm season be so quiet, you won't need to use any of it!

Health care

The power of prayer to heal the sick is medically documented and a part of many religions. I can't -- and don't want to -- envision my great-grandmother seeing someone she loved hooked up to medical machinery. But I can easily envision her praying for someone's healing.

But what about praying for someone's suffering to end?

What about not praying for someone you know is in medical trouble because you don't like that person or the person somehow "deserved" what happened due to lifestyle choices?

What about praying for someone to get better but that person just gets better enough to be medically miserable?

If prayer has power, then people who pray have responsiblity. What do you think is that responsibility? I'll put my view in the comments. I'm eager to hear yours.

Seasonings

Our great-grandmothers knew the joy of fleeting foods.

I'd give examples of foods that were only in season certain times of the year, but I'm embarrassingly out of touch - I haven't been shopping at farmer's markets long enough to know what is in or out of season over the course of a year.

That goodness for http://www.eattheseasons.com/. The website gives seasonal food information, tips and recipe ideas. What a great idea!

Rosemary to the Rescue

A Newswise press release says rosemary, a member of the mint family and a popular seasoning on its own, also has benefits as a cancer prevention agent.

Apply it to hamburgers and its antioxidant content – rosmarinic acid, carnosol and carnosic acid – can break up potentially cancer-causing compounds called HCA that can form when meat is cooked.

J. Scott Smith, a Kansas State University food science professor, advised grillers to put a little bit of rosemary on the surface of the meat.

"Rosemary extracts shouldn’t have much of an aroma to them," he said. "Most people don’t want a rosemary-flavored burger. So if you get the extract you don’t really know it’s there.”

What a rosy solution!

Cleaning Safely, with Grandma's Ingredients

From today's New York Times:

The women in Laura Gosa’s kitchen in Jersey City fell to, blending the ingredients spread out on her counters like so many blasts from Grandma’s preindustrial past: baking soda, borax, Castile soap, lemon oil, vinegar, glycerin and other staples of the all-natural armamentarium.

These women weren’t interested in buying green products; this was strictly a make-your-own approach. It was one of more than 100 such parties held since late March in various parts of the country by Women’s Voices for the Earth, an environmental group based in Missoula, Mont., that just began the program and has another 100 parties planned. The group made headlines last year with a report that common household cleaners contained obscure chemicals — mostly in small amounts as fragrances or surfactants — that it considered unsafe.

While it is deeply serious about persuading people to consider alternatives to chemical-laden cleaning products, the parties are not merely dutiful. At another recent one in the Wall Street conference room of Divine Capital Markets, a brokerage firm, the firm’s founder, Danielle F. Hughes, served “Windex martinis,” mixed from Ketel One vodka and blue Gatorade.

Ms. Hughes said she is wary of detergents and cleaning products because she thinks they triggered her past attacks of asthma and eczema.

But she is hardly suspicious of everything made by conglomerates.

“Heck, I’m in the stock market, I don’t want everybody to stop buying everything,” she said. “But we need to lobby companies to say, Hey, tell us what’s in it.”

The rest of the story is on the New York Times website.

Waste Not

I'm a security-minded person and waste irritates me. So, those credit card soliciations that already have my name and other information printed on them make me nuts -- they are a waste of paper and ink, not to mention a drag on the mail system and potential for identity thieves.

While preparing to shred a half dozen of them today, I noticed an opt-out number to "no longer receive prescreened offers of credit." Whoo-hoo! I'd read an article a while ago about the number to call and that the number actually works, but I'd lost the article before writing it down.

I wasn't going to procrastinate this time, so I called: 1-888-567-8688.

There is only a computer voice and you have to input some pretty sensitive information -- name, address, date of birth, social security number. That last one gave me pause but, if the credit offers are based on my credit report, which is based on my social security number, it does makes sense they need the SSN to verify my identity.

Now that I've gone through the opt-out process, I'll hopefully stop getting those darned offers. The computer voice told me it could take a few weeks for the process to be complete. When it is, I think both I -- and my mailman -- will be grateful.

Mixing green with green

Like so many of us, I try to live green, but sometimes I'm afraid things touted as "green" are really no better than the energy-hogging alternatives. The recent kerfuffle over CFLs and mercury didn't help my jitters, even though CFLs were exonerated.

Thank goodness MSN is helping sort out the hype with its "Which Green Upgrades Are Worth the Extra Expense?" article. A little annoying to read since the article requires a click-through to get to each new topic, I still found the explanations ("assumptions," the article calls them) for how the reporter arrived at the money-savings to be quite, well, illuminating.

If you're pressed for time, the article's last page, a chart of potential money savings, is the quickest way to gain information.

Oh, and if you looking for me, I'll be out buying a low-flow showerhead.

A bit of a reach

It's just not natural to be as desk-bound as some of us find ourselves during the day. Luckily, there are some great guides to stretches for computer users.

Or, if you prefer something more interactive, Richard Simmons has a video guide to simple stretches that can help those of us who find outselves sitting more than we'd like to:

Breath for Inner Peace

From the Chopra Center:

http://chopra.com/namaste/meditationmoment

Nadi Shodhana, or “alternate nostril breathing,” is a simple but powerful technique that deeply relaxes the mind and body. Use it to quiet your mind before beginning a meditation session – or to calm racing thoughts and anxiety if you are having trouble falling asleep.

There are several different styles of Nadi Shodhana, but they all serve the purpose of regulating the flow of air through your nasal passages. Here is a practice you can try right now:

1. Hold your right thumb over your right nostril and inhale deeply through your left nostril. At the peak of your inhalation, close off your left nostril with your third and fourth fingers, then exhale smoothly through your right nostril.
2. After a full exhalation, inhale through the right nostril, closing it off with your right thumb at the peak of your inhalation.
3. Continue performing Nadi Shodhana for the next few breaths, following the same pattern. Your breathing should be effortless, with your mind gently observing the inflow and outflow of breath.

Rubbed Right

Ah, the wonders of alcohol! ... No, not that kind -- rubbing alcohol.

Obviously, the stuff will clean and sanitize. But did you know it will also:

• allow you to easily scratch off a sticky price sticker from metal or glass once you've soaked the price sticker (try this on plastic at your own risk)
• help you pull off a band-aid, painlessly, using the same soaking method
• make a soft ice pack -- use three parts of water and one part rubbing alcohol in a Ziploc bag. Once frozen, it turns to slush, not ice
• as a pre-treatment, remove ink stains from clothes if you soak the stain in rubbing alcohol for about 10 minutes, then throw in the washing machine
• remove marks from counter tops and walls. Try on a test area first and, if there is no damage, you can try scouring the more obvious spot

Pretty Tasty

Just because something is labeled "natural" doesn't mean it's good. After all, arsenic is "natural."

But many beauty products these days are on the "natural" bandwagon, which, I suppose, is better than chemicals mixed up in the lab. But when a product contains "pumpkin extract" or "grapefruit essence," what exactly does that mean?

You'll know soon thanks to alert Great-Grandmother's Shopping List reader Melissa, who has sent in an article from Real Simple Magazine that explains the prettier purposes of pomegranate, grapefruit, mushroom, pumpkin and bamboo.

A few other, clickable tidbits:

• a banana anti-aging mask
• a honey scrub
• a milk makeup remover

What a beautiful bon appetit!

In Defense of Food

From a great website we just found, Julie's Health Club:

Michael Pollan asks in his eater's manifesto,
"In Defense of Food," "What other animal needs professional help in deciding what it should eat?"
It wouldn't be so complicated if gung-ho food scientists hadn't replaced ordinary food with foodlike substances (some of which are incapable of rotting). Today, telling someone to "eat food" is easier said than done because real food is often difficult to identify.
But labels are not the answer, because manufacturers put meaningless "health claims" on everything imaginable, including Cocoa Puffs and drinks that contain high-fructose corn syrup, such as Gatorade.
Rather than a rating system, what we need is common sense. And Pollan, thankfully, has provided some logical rules of thumb to help you find the kind of food you should eat: real food that doesn't lie to your body.

DON'T EAT ANYTHING YOUR GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE AS FOOD.
No Go-Gurt Portable Yogurt tubes. (She wouldn't be able to identify high-fructose corn syrup, modified corn starch, kosher gelatin, carrageenan, tricalcium phosphate, natural and artificial flavors, etc.) No "protein waters," "nondairy creamers" or foods that never grow stale.

AVOID FOOD PRODUCTS CONTAINING INGREDIENTS THAT ARE:
A) UNFAMILIAR,
B) UNPRONOUNCABLE,
C) MORE THAN FIVE IN NUMBER
D) HAVE HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP.

Pollan's example: Sara Lee's Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White Bread, which fails every test proposed by this rule. "If not for the indulgence of the Food and Drug Administration, (it) could not even be labeled "bread," he wrote.

AVOID PRODUCTS THAT MAKE HEALTH CLAIMS.
If a food has a health claim, it probably has a package and that means it's very likely processed. Moreover, the FDA's "qualified" health claims" are all but meaningless.

SHOP THE PERIPHERIES OF THE SUPERMARKET AND STAY OUT OF THE MIDDLE.
"Processed foods products dominate the center aisles of the store while the cases of ostensibly fresh food--dairy, produce, meat and fish--line the walls," Pollan wrote. Be careful though, because high-fructose corn syrup lurks in the dairy case.

GET OUT OF THE SUPERMARKET WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
"You won't find any high-fructose corn syrup at the farmer's market. Also look into CSA (community supported agriculture), in which you can subscribe to a farm and receive a box of produce.)"

Go to Julie's Health Club at: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2008/03/in-what-will-ce.html

Play Date

Playing outside used to be normal: hopscotch, kickball, even that hoop-and-stick thing in old movies. These days, though, sometimes things get so hectic we forget to make time just to play -- whether for ourselves or for our children.

The Play Pledge aims to change all that. Sponsored by the International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association (but still a good idea), the concept is we sign a contract with our kids (but I think it could be modified to be with ourselves) to get outside and have some fun.

Play builds intellectual, social and physical skills. Oh, and it's fun. So let's get out there and play!

Advice is Like Snow

"Advice is like snow--the softer it falls, the longer it dwells, and the deeper it sinks into the mind." Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I just liked this quote a lot. Remember it when you are bugging your loved ones to lead a healthier life. And remember to be gentle with yourself when you slip up -- in healthy living, relationships --anything at all. I got the quote from a website on EFT, check it out: http://www.emofree.com/ I highly recommend it.

And please send us your (or your great-grandmother's) favorite quotes. It's great to share.

Belly Fat May Make You Hungrier

You know the old saying: "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." Well, a recent study says the fat get fatter. But there is something we can do about it. Here's an excerpt from the article found on Andrew Weil, M.D.'s website:

"The extra fat we carry around our waists could be making us hungrier. Dr. Yaiping Yang and researchers at the Lawson Health Research Institute (affiliated with The University of Western Ontario, Canada) found abdominal fat tissue can secrete a hormone that stimulates appetite and further fat cell production.

The researchers found that the hormone neuropeptide Y (NPY) is secreted by abdominal fat tissue. Previously, it was believed to be produced only by the brain. NPY is the most potent appetite stimulating hormone known, sending signals to the individual that they are constantly hungry.The “active” role of fat in appetite fits with the conclusion of science writer Gary Taubes, who gave a riveting presentation at the Fifth Annual Nutrition and Health Conference in Phoenix last month. Taubes cited a century of research to prove his point that, as he put it, “obesity is a disorder of excess fat accumulation,” and that the “primary defect is in the body, not the brain.” It does indeed appear that fatty tissue exerts a potent effect on hormonal levels, including those that regulate hunger, which can lead to a vicious cycle of overweight and overeating. The good news is that lowering insulin levels by lowering the glycemic load of foods consumed appears to be able to defeat this feedback mechanism. For the whole story, I highly recommend Taubes’ recent book, Good Calories, Bad Calories."

For more go to : http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02087/Belly-Fat-May-Make-You-Hungrier.html

Count on It

Remember playing Chutes and Ladders when you were little? Turns out you were boosting your math skills.

A thesis out of Carnegie Mellon University states playing a linear number board game for about one hour increased low-income five-and-a-half-year-olds' math proficiency. Carried through years of schooling, the authors suggest math improvements due to games could make a significant difference for the students.

"The present findings demonstrated that the benefits of playing number board games include enhanced understanding of numerical magnitudes, improved counting, and improved numeral identification," the study stated. "These gains are not only important in themselves but also seem likely to increase children’s ability to acquire further numerical information."

Playing a color board game (Candy Land, say) wasn't associated with a math skills boost.

"The finding that middle-income children have more experience playing board games in general, and Chutes and Ladders in particular, increased the plausibility of the related hypothesis that variations in experience with such games is one source of differences between the numerical knowledge of children from low- and middle-income backgrounds," the study added.

The full study is at: http://www.psy.cmu.edu/~siegler/ramsieg-inpress1.pdf.

Breastfeeding Associated with Smarter Kids

Breastfeeding exclusively during the first year of life has been associated with an increase in a child’s intelligence by first grade, a large randomized trial in Belarus found.

For more on this boob-happy news, click: http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/tb/9342

What's Natural?

As the demand for "natural" personal care products such as lotions, balms and shampoos continues to soar, manufacturers are responding with a host of new products. Some are natural, some aren't. But how is a shopper to know? Until now, consumers had no idea what was truly natural since there was no standard definition of the term used by industry.

That is no longer the case. To end this confusion and help consumers, the Natural Products Association announced today a new certification program which defines natural and includes an easily-identified seal. Shoppers can expect the seal to begin appearing on certifier personal care products in the coming months.

"People want natural products because they are good for them and good for our environment," said Debra Short, president of the Natural Products Association. "But anyone could claim their product was 'natural,' even if it had 100 percent synthetic or petroleum-based. That wasn't fair to consumers or to companies who make truly natural products, and this seal will help end all that confusion."

For the rest of the story, click here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/106094.php

Firmly Planted

Growing something, whether it's a flower or a food or a tree, is a beautiful gift to ourselves and to future generations.

In fact, The National Garden Bureau has come up with a great-grandmother-worthy top 10 list answering the question "Why garden?"

The answers include safe, healthy food; relaxation; exercise; creativity; emotional needs; and spiritual connections. I think you'll find the entire list interesting.

This concept of tending the soul through gardening is "taking root," so to speak, at hospitals. Many medical facilities are adding or increasing their use of gardens to treat both mental and physical ailments.

If you know someone undergoing treatment or if you just want to enjoy a garden, this database of healing gardens may be of help.

Stories

In the last few days, I met two people in passing who confirmed the whole "great-grandmother's shopping list" concept.

The first was a gentleman at the garage, a big and tall man, maybe in his early 60s. He said when gas hit $3 a gallon, he began walking or biking to work. He said it was a 40-minute walk or a 20-minute bike ride each way. He said at first he was angry and missed driving his van. But, as time went by, he said he began enjoying the extra time between work and home and the interaction with nature. (It looked like most of his ride would be along busy streets, but he said there was nature to be found.)

This gentleman also said he has lost 12 pounds so far, has had his lowest blood pressure readings in years and his arthritis in his knees is vastly improved.

"The way things are going, now I'm gonna outlive my ex-wife," he said. "Serves her right."

The second person I met in passing was a clerk at a big-box store, probably about the same age as my garage gentleman. She admired by BYOBs and mentioned her mother came to this country from Germany.

"Over there, they never used this plastic stuff," she said, pointing to the store-emblazoned bags on her side of the counter. "I'm glad people here are getting sensible."

It sure is "greener" on the "sensible" side of the fence these days!

To a 'T'

If you have old t-shirts that are no longer stylish/wearable, you may think you have three options if you don't want to just throw them out:

• Hope a friend wants them.
• Give them to Goodwill.
• Offer them up on Craigslist or a freecycle group.

Those are all great, but have you considered eco-crafting? This would allow you to:

• If you knit or crochet, rip or cut the t-shirts into yarn strips.
• If you enjoy quilting, make your own t-shirt quilt (or you can hire a company to do it for you).
• If basic sewing is more your thing, make a t-shirt pillow.

There is something time-tested and beautiful about creating something with your own, two hands. Giving a new life or a new usefulness to something you already have used makes it even better.

Oil Change

Have you been using olive oil only for food? Tsk-tsk - great-grandma knew better.

Sure there are health benefits to actually eating the stuff, but, depending on how interested you are, there are seven uses, 10 uses or 25 uses for oilve oil that don't involve food at all.

My favorite is a tie - the de-frizz applications for hair (which is somewhat hard to do evenly, I'll admit) and the foot-softening if you spread olive oil on your feet (and put socks on) before going to bed.

What's your favorite non-food use for olive oil?

Crank It Up!

Great-grandmother may have lived in the age of crank-started cars.

You may live in the age of (biodegradable) crank-powered cell phones.

The future is now: http://www.core77.com/competitions/GreenerGadgets/projects/4416/

Think Yourself Thin(ner)

The Daily Mail reports that you can "think yourself thinner."

It says researchers have found "actively remembering your last meal suppresses appetite and reduces the desire to snack on junk food." The paper also says the study found concentrating on food while eating makes you less likely to get hungry later on.

For more, click: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/105560.php

You Name It and Exercise Helps It

I love Tuesdays because the New York Times runs its excellent Science section.

In Jane Brody's column in today's Personal Health column, for example, she quotes Frank Hu, an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, as saying: "The single thing that comes close to a magic bullet, in terms of its strong and universal benefits, is exercise.”

Brody writes exercise can lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia, osteoporosis, gallstones, diverticulitis, falls, erectile dysfunction, peripheral vascular disease and 12 kinds of cancer. It can also be beneficial if you already have one of those conditions, or ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, congestive heart failure or osteoarthritis.

But how can you exercise if you’re always tired or in pain or have trouble breathing?

Here are a few of the answers:

• Diabetes: Exercise improves glucose tolerance so less medication is needed to control blood sugar, reducing the risk of life-threatening complications.
• Joint and neuromuscular disorders: Exercise that increases strength and aerobic capacity can reduce pain, depression and anxiety and improve function, balance and quality of life.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: Exercise that builds gradually and protects inflamed joints can diminish pain, fatigue, morning stiffness, depression and anxiety, improve strength, walking speed and activity.
• Multiple Sclerosis: Water exercises are particularly helpful as they avoid overheating.
• Parkinson’s Disease: Resistance training and aerobic exercise can increase the ability to function independently and improve balance, stride length, walking speed and mood.
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; Resistance training, along with aerobic exercise, is especially helpful as it counters the loss of muscle mass and strength from lack of oxygen.

For the complete article go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/health/29brod.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin

Kiss Off

Remember when great-grandma would "kiss it and make it better"?

Turns out she was on to something: Human saliva contains a painkiller up to six times more powerful than morphine that may also be an anti-depressant.

I feel better already!

Oh, Poo

Do you season your toothbrush with toilet water? You might be, without even knowing it.

Every time you flush, particles from the toilet - water and ... other stuff - blow as far as a 20 feet from the toilet. There is a great-grandmother-worthy sensible solution, though: Flush with the toilet lid down.

To really grasp the concept, though, I recommend this (semi-serious) video:

Anxious? Here's Relief That's Good for You

Great-grandmother didn't take "mother's little helpers" like BuSpar, Ativan, Valium, and Xanax for her difficult times. Maybe she would have if they'd been available, but there are lots of advantages to getting at the cause of anxiety instead of just treating the symptoms.

Below are excerpts from an article on the subject. I especially recommend physical activity and EFT. For the full article, click: http://www.womentowomen.com/depressionanxietyandmood/anxiety.aspx.

Physical activity is the single best anxiety medication I know. It’s just essential to hormonal balance. In one study, people who engaged in 30–60 minutes of moderate exercise every day reported less anxiety than a similar group on anti-anxiety meds who did not exercise.

Get enough sunlight and fresh air. Fifteen minutes of sun exposure (without sunscreen) in the early morning and late afternoon stimulates the production of vitamin D in your body.

Get enough sleep. Adequate sleep is paramount to brain health. Women should get 7–9 hours a night. If you have trouble sleeping, avoid all caffeine (including chocolate and green tea) and set a bedtime for yourself that you stick to. Practice a calming technique like meditation or deep breathing before bed.

If you can afford it, find a counselor to talk to about your emotional experience. Ask for a referral from a doctor, family member or friend. The local Y, religious institution, or grief counseling center may have a list of therapists they can offer. Interview several to make sure you find someone you really like and trust.

Try using the Emotional Freedom Techniques, widely known as EFT.... I like it because unlike conventional relaxation methods, EFT gets at the root causes of anxiety rather than masking them.

Investigate integrative manual therapy (IMT). Using gentle applied pressure, IMT opens up blocked energy channels to help the body do what it does best — heal itself. Anxiety is in a sense blocked energy, and bodywork helps redirect that energy constructively.

If you are paralyzed by catastrophic thoughts and debilitating physical symptoms of anxiety, talk to your healthcare professional about the usefulness of short-term medication. If your doctor does not offer additional support techniques to help you in the long term, look around for an alternative or integrative medical practitioner. Long-term use of anti-anxiety medication will not cure you.

Handy Craft

Maybe it's because I like thinking I'm more than a cog in America's retail machine, but I love having unique things - the scarf I crocheted myself, the necklace a friend made for me, even the long skirt I bought at a chain store but then got hemmed to be a knee-length skirt. (It's something!)

I also like to buy local. Why enrich some factory owner in China when I can enrich an individual craftsman in my community or, at least, my country?

Enter Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/.

I think my great-grandmothers would have adored this handmade item online marketplace (and not just because each of my great-grandmothers was, herself, excellent at needlework). Among the ways potential buyers Etsy can search or sort are by the type of craft, the area where the craftperson lives, the colors in the craft or traits of the intended recipient. Sometimes, to get inspired for my own projects, I hit "refresh" to see the updates (every 15 seconds!) to the "recently listed items" part of the site.

I don't know much about listing through the service but it looks like it is free to set up a virtual storefront, 20 cents an item to list and a 3.5 percent commission on sales. Even a frugal great-grandma could probably handle those prices!

Sound off

Ah, spring is upon us! Colorful flowers, frolicking bunnies, noisy leaf-blowers.

Arrrrrrgh.

Yes, I am a card-carrying leaf-blower hater. (Well, I would carry a card if someone issued them. I am considering founding a leaf blower-hating activist group. Perhaps WHALE? We Hate All Leaf-blower Elements.)

Our great-grandmothers (well, more likely our great-grandfathers, but that’s not the name of this blog) would have done this exact task – leaf gathering – via a method that is nearly silent, requires no gasoline and is more efficient. Namely, a rake for leaves in the yard or a broom for leaves in the street.

If quietness, lack of pollution and a better end result aren’t enough for you, there are even more reasons not to use the leaf-blower, courtesy of U.S. News and World Report:

Leaf blowers throw mold, allergens and dust particles into the air at high velocities, potentially worsening health problems like asthma and lung irritation.

Using the leaf blower for an hour uses about 140 calories. In the same amount of time, raking can burn about 325 calories.

The initial investment in a rake ($25) is one-twentieth of the cost of buying a leaf-blower ($500). Not to mention the leaf-blower’s later need for gasoline or electricity.

So, if you use a leaf-blower, please stop. If you know someone who uses a leaf-blower, please show that person this blog or the U.S. News and World Report article. Together, we can be a mighty WHALE.

Boo!

Is phantom energy haunting your electric bill?

Phantom energy - also called phantom load, standby power or vampire power – is the electricity consumed by a device when it is turned off.

That’s right – when it’s turned off. Our great-grandmothers may have used radios that took time to “warm up,” but that was because the radio wasn’t in constant “ready” mode. Today’s televisions and computer monitors pull power when plugged into the wall, as does anything with a digital clock display, such as the microwave, DVD player and coffee maker. Anything with a thicker-than-usual plug, such as a charger for a cellphone, laptop, power tool or hand-held vacuum, is among the worst offenders.

Luckily, this is a problem even great-grandma could have solved pretty intuitively – unplug the offending appliance when you’re not using it. It wasn’t hard for me to get used to unplugging my cellphone charger when I’m not actually charging my phone. It’s been a bit tougher to remember to plug and unplug the TV, but it’s worth the improvement to my electric bill. (Some people buy power strips they can switch off to disable the appliance’s power-draining capability but I’m too cheap to do that.)

A few other facts:

• By some estimates, cutting phantom energy can trim an annual electric bill by $200.


• There is a way to test your phantom energy without buying a fancy kit or meter some websites want to sell.


• According to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services: “A typical home has as many as 12 to 15 appliances on standby power that are consuming electricity 24 hours a day, or about 5 percent of the average total electric bill,” and: “The total phantom load of the United States could power the countries of Greece, Peru, and Vietnam combined.”

Phantom energy -- pretty scary stuff, eh?

Happy, Happy Chocolate Joy

More happy justification for chocolate lovers: Blood pressure responds favorably to cocoa, but not tea.

Authors of the new study say both products are rich in polyphenols, but study findings suggest phenols in cocoa may be more active than those in tea.

The study appears in the April 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Products rich in cocoa may be considered part of a blood pressure lowering diet, provided that the total energy intake does not increase," lead investigator for the study, Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, from the University Hospital of Cologne in Cologne, Germany, told heartwire. "I believe that cocoa is healthier than other sugar confectionary or high-fat dairy products."

Great-Grandmother's Shopping List reader Red is sure to rejoice!

Great-Grandmother to Everyone

What is your "Earth Day resolution"?

One (Bad) Word: Plastics

Bisphenol A. There’s a word great-grandma didn’t know. Turns out bisphenol A (BPA) is a dangerous, hormone-disrupting chemical that can leak out of plastics into food or beverages.

BPA is in the plastic of baby bottles (and sippy cups), grown-up water bottles, can liners and lots of other products we all use. Government studies show 95% of us have it in our blood. If you want to learn more, there are plenty of websites offering facts and information.

The good news is alternatives are coming to market. Life Without Plastic, for example, has an assortment of non-plastic non-breakables for both children and adults.

Personally, I love my Pyrex (pictured). I use the glass tubs to store most leftovers. There are plastic caps to put on when I take the tubs someplace (like when I take lunch to work), but at least the food doesn’t come into contact with the plastic.

I should – and plan – to do better, though. My great-grandmother used to store food in glass jars with screw-tops. Lots of jams and jellies still come in glass jars – and any solution that involves eating more strawberry or grape jelly sounds great to me!

Power Play

Solar power, wind power, ocean wave energy -- all forms of renewable energy. How about treadmill power?

I co-owned a gym and I often wished we could harness the power folks create when they run or walk on treadmills and other cardiovascular equipment. I've been mumbling about this for years - and now it's happening! Here's an excerpt from the New York Times' Sunday Magazine, April 21, 2008; the "green issue" -

SWEAT EQUITY: Many people go to the gym to become more powerful. But at California Fitness in Hong Kong, an Asian-based subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness Worldwide, exercisers are actually powering the gym. The program, “Powered by YOU,” was conceived by Doug Woodring, a Wharton grad, and Lucien Gambarota, a French inventor, who run an alternative-energy company in Hong Kong. When a member begins to exercise, the machine she uses captures the energy she creates as electricity (which would otherwise be lost as heat) and uses it to run a light above the machine. Gambarota says that a person can produce 50 watts of electricity per hour working out at a moderate pace. “If you spend just an hour per day on a machine annually, you could generate 18.3 kilowatt-hours of electricity,” he says. That’s the equivalent of powering a three-bedroom home in New Jersey for 14 hours. Since the program made its debut last year, 13 exercise machines have been hooked up; the chain plans to extend the project to its 24 other clubs throughout Asia. ABBY ELLIN

For more "green" go here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/magazine/20Live-a-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gym+electricity&st=nyt&oref=slogin

Functional Foods

Newswise — Foods that may provide a health benefit beyond basic nutrition, identified as functional foods, are becoming a key part of everyday life, according to a new article appearing in Food Technology, a publication of the Institute of Food Technologists.

Here's a few highlights; for the complete article click on the link below:

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/539944/?sc=mwhn

New superfoods include:
• Blood Oranges
• Goji Berries (pictured above)
• Seabuckthorn
• Mangosteens
• Garbanzo Beans
• Specialty Mushrooms

Studies show that 69 percent of Americans are incorporating foods into a preventative lifestyle, while 27 percent are utilizing food as a treatment to manage a preexisting health condition. One-third of shoppers (36 percent) are trying to reduce the risk of developing a health condition, follow a doctor’s advice (30 percent) or manage/treat a specific condition on their own (25 percent), according to the Food Marketing Institute data.

Many consumers are taking a simpler, more-natural approach to the foods they eat, looking for foods with only a few ingredients and as fresh and close to the farm as time and budget will allow. Hormones topped the list of ingredients that consumers were least comfortable consuming.

Organic food and beverages sales grew 13 percent in 2007 and are expected to continue at double-digit growth through 2008. Consumers believe local products are fresher, have fewer pesticides, and in general are of higher quality.

We think great-grandma would agree.

Tick-Tock Tummy

Have you ever noticed that some people, if you ask them if they are hungry, will look at their watches? "It's 11:30 and lunch isn't until noon," they'll say, bellies grumbling. Or, "It's 4 o'clock - too soon for dinner."

Time wasn't the question, hunger was. And, the last time I checked, hunger was a feeling, not an item on a schedule.

I know many of us have to eat by the clock when we're at work, but regimenting our hunger on the weekends is just sad. After all, it wasn't until Nov. 18, 1883 that time, as we know it, in the United States even existed. That was the date city authorities reset their clocks to mesh with railroad schedules. Before then, there were more than 300 U.S. time zones. If it was "too early" for lunch in one town, just go to the next one.

So why do we feel the need, today, to schedule things our great-grandmothers would just do by instinct, such as eating when she was hungry?