Health Tips for the month of July

July 9, 2006- Something to Relish

Three foods your arteries can't get enough of: onions, celery, and parsley.

Whether you add them to soups, relish dishes, sandwiches, or salads, improving the health of your arteries may be as simple as munching on these flavor boosters. People who eat more flavonoid-rich veggies like these cut their risk of hardening of the arteries -- especially in the legs -- in half.

The health-fuel powering these foods comes from flavonoids -- naturally occurring plant compounds that are widely known for their disease-fighting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Yellow onions, parsley, and celery are loaded with flavonoids, though there are other good sources: kale, leeks, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and blueberries. And most fruits and veggies, as well as tea and red wine, have at least a smattering of them. Flavonoids are potent defenders against peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), which narrows and hardens arteries in the legs and arms, reducing blood flow.

So the next time you're whipping up tuna or egg salad, mararina sauce or vegetable soup, gazpacho or a dish of crudités, add some extra parsley, onion, and celery. The flavor will hum, and your arteries will, too.

Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ©2006

July 16, 2006- Cheese: Healthier Than We Think?
If you eye the rolls and butter at a buffet, reach for cheese instead.

Although too much saturated fat isn't good for anyone -- especially people with high cholesterol -- it looks like all saturated fats may not be created equal. There's growing evidence that cheese raises cholesterol less than butter does. So when you're debating what to add to your plate, slice into the cheddar instead of loading up on croissants.

Where do you find most saturated fat? Think "moo" -- red meat and full-fat dairy products like ice cream, cheese, butter, heavy cream, and milk -- along with other foods of animal origin. As tempting as these foods can be, they spell bad news for your arteries. Eating too much sat fat raises both total and bad LDL cholesterol -- the blood fats that lodge in artery walls, encouraging dangerous plaque buildup. In one study, when a group of adults with mildly elevated cholesterol ate either butter or cheddar at almost every meal for 2 months, the butter eaters' cholesterol (both total and LDL) climbed up the charts, but the cheese eaters' barely changed.

This was a small study, but it confirms the results of two others done in cheese-loving Denmark and Norway. Still, it's not a license to go hog wild on cheese. The French stay slim not necessarily because they love cheese and wine, but because their typical portion sizes are much smaller than portion sizes in the United States.

Source: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ©2006

July 23, 2006- Focus on the Big 5
It's no surprise that five key health factors that make your health increase and mortality rate decrease.

Which risk factors are they? Not cancer. Not cholesterol. The top five health factors that increase the likelihood you'll need help caring for yourself when you're older are smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and inactivity. Luckily, regular exercise can help take care of four of those risk factors. And if you don't smoke, you'll be able to exercise even more.

The difference between people who remain self-sufficient and those who wind up dependent on others seems obvious: Self-sufficient people lead a healthy lifestyle. Over 20 years of data prove it, and the payoff can be huge, especially when you start in midlife. For instance, midlife diabetic smokers are five times more likely to end up in a nursing home than people free of these factors.

Sure, change can be hard. But when people manage their diabetes well or trade an hour on the couch for an hour at the gym, the odds of suffering chronic, debilitating conditions decline dramatically. Studies show that the most active people are the least likely to have trouble taking care of themselves -- bathing, dressing, getting around -- later in life. So if you smoke, join a quitting program. If you don't exercise, start walking. If you've put on weight, work on dropping it. If you have high blood pressure, commit to controlling it. If you have diabetes, get aggressive about managing it. And if you fall short, don't give up. Try, try again.

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, ©2006