Bravo, brevity. Four dozen words is all it takes for a doctor and noted writer on diet and obesity to offer plenty of sound advice on how to get and stay healthy. Here are the suggestions from Yoni Freedhoff, associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa, founder and medical director of Ottawa’s….
Continue ReadingNutrition
Here’s something as frightful as the weather outside: winter weight gain
Many of us may feel a little too hefty after weeks of seasonal feasting and merrymaking. But Old Man Winter also may share a slice of the blame for our weight gain at this time of year and beyond. Packing on a pound or two, maybe even five, may be more common at this time….
Continue ReadingOn the road, in the kitchen, at the table — have a safe, healthy holiday!
With the launch of a season of eating, drinking, getting together with friends and family, and celebrating, it may be worth a moment to ponder how to keep those you care most about as healthy and safe as possible, but with a good dollop of fun too. Herewith some suggestions: Food safety When it comes….
Continue ReadingVulnerable nursing home residents face yet another hazard: sickening food
To the myriad struggles that residents of nursing homes endure, from poor health to inattentive staff, add this new one: “crappy conditions” in kitchens and other areas where their food gets prepared and served. Marjie Lundstrom, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, conducted a five-month, nationwide investigation for the consumer web site Fair Warning, with the results….
Continue ReadingWhere’s the beef? Experts chew on meat-eating: Bad for you, unknown, or what?
The elite of public health organizations are up in arms about a new report from a group of international researchers who looked at red meat and its health benefits and harms, and more or less shrugged. The new take goes like this, reported the New York Times: “If there are health benefits from eating less….
Continue ReadingA toast to clear and simple advice: Parents, it’s just milk and water for the kids
Milk and water — it’s that simple. That’s the latest and official recommendation for what children 5 and younger mostly should drink. For parents, if any doubt persists, that advice comes from leading health authorities, including Healthy Eating Research, a nutrition advocacy group funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The group developed the kids’….
Continue ReadingPleas for ‘wellness’ moderation: Foods aren’t dirty, bad, or a cause for shame
Moderation matters in all things, though its proponents often seem to get shoved aside by more extreme views. Now there is welcome new push-back against wellness hype by those who instead want science- and evidence-based approaches to health and nutrition to prevail. In separate and unrelated expressions of their points of view, novelist Jessica Knoll….
Continue ReadingPlain Talk for Seniors: Supplements can’t ‘cure’ Alzheimer’s or cancer, or anything else
Seniors and their friends and companions should consider reality versus magical thinking about the power of pills. The blunt truth: Over-the-counter dietary supplements can’t cure diseases. Not Alzheimer’s, not cancer, not diabetes, not any known disease. They don’t extend your lifespan either. Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the federal Food and Drug Administration, not only has warned a….
Continue ReadingLook out, below: A load of dietary super bunk is raining down from celebrities
If you’re such a die-hard fan you slogged through that pro football championship that was perfect for the new Year of the Boar, please don’t be so sheepish in your celebrity adoration as to get gulled by quarterback Tom Brady’s health and diet bunk. His oddball theories well might go into a flaming dumpster, along….
Continue ReadingDiabetes is serious. So why aren’t patients getting more treatment help?
Doctors, hospitals, health officials, and disease advocacy groups race to warn about diabetes’ risks, harms, and increasing prevalence. But why, then, doesn’t modern medicine also do much more to help diabetics with the skyrocketing costs of their care, whether with insulin at excessive prices or with expensive medical aids? Ted Alcorn of the New York Times….
Continue Reading