Click here for the original post. Personally, if it weren’t for cheese pizza, I’m for dropping dairy from our lives altogether. Cow’s milk is for nourishing calves, period. We’ve been sold an amazing bill of goods from the National Dairy Council, variations of (remember this?) “you’ll never outgrow your need for milk.” I clearly recall […]
Low Dosage Aspirin: Does Taking One Daily Help Anything?
Since someone, either in my office or by e-mail, asks me this question at least once a week, this might be a good opportunity to put the matter to rest.
Or maybe not.
Physicians, especially cardiologists, have been recommending daily aspirin to their patients for decades. The theory rested on the phenomenon that aspirin ever so slightly interfered with blood clot formation, and that small blood clots were responsible for heart attacks and strokes. You didn’t need to take much: a low-dose aspirin (81 mg–formerly called baby aspirin) would do just fine.
Cancer Prevention Clip ‘n Save
This month’s issue of the International Journal of Cancer published a report from the Leicester Royal Infirmary in which researchers actually tracked the cancer prevention benefits of certain foods. They were interested in a specific group I’ve mentioned in these Health Tips several times: polyphenols, like those found in green tea.
Obesity by Infection
Here’s a topic I suspect you’ll be reading more about during the next year. For some overweight people (though certainly not all), the villain is not overeating, or even eating the wrong foods, but rather certain bacteria or viruses in the intestines that change the way food is absorbed.
Don’t Forget Your Selenium
And, in point of fact, if you do forget your selenium, you might start forgetting other things as well.
That’s what some epidemiologists from Indiana University recently reported. They selected a fairly obscure village of 2,000 people in China where the people had lived their entire lives and eaten largely the same food. After analyzing hair and fingernail samples for selenium levels, the researchers ran psychological tests on intellectual function.
Q&A: Sleep and Your Immune System
Q: How important is sleep to the immune system? I heard a Navajo medicine woman say that sleep was the key to a good immune system–more important even than nutrition. Is this true in your opinion?
Fast Food Favorites: Spinach
What kind of fast food could I ever recommend? The kind that will make your hair shine and your complexion glow.
You can make easy and enormously healthful choices every day that will make a real difference in the way you feel and look. Yes, your appearance, mood, and stamina are directly tied to the nutrients you take in.
Zzzzz: You’re Getting Sleepy and Your Heart is Happy
Here’s a health tip you may have suspected all along. There’s now “official” medical justification for that most pleasant of human activities: your afternoon nap.
Aromatherapy and Menstrual Cramps
Here’s a thoughtful gift for you, your daughter, or anyone who dreads her period because of cramps.
Q&A: Supplements for Recovering Alcoholic
Q: I have a friend who is a recovering alcoholic. She’s gone through detox and is doing well managing her disease, but she wants to know if there are supplements (like milk thistle?) to support the liver that she should take to help her body recover and stay healthy.
Breaking the Fast with Breakfast
Breakfast breaks the fasting period our bodies undergo while we’re sleeping. You can quickly see why breakfast is essential: your body has just gone through hours with no nutrients. When you awake and begin your day, you need fuel.
Importance of Magnesium
People who schedule visits with nutritionists are usually surprised to find themselves almost always walking out with a bottle of magnesium tablets along with some suitable vitamins and a healthful eating program.
A Must Read for Those with Fibromyalgia
This weekend, I was reading through my latest copy of Fibromyalgia Aware magazine. After taking care of people with fibro for decades, I’m always surprised that I learn something new in each issue.
Diet Drugs
Hoffmann-La Roche, a pharmaceutical industry giant, enjoyed a tasty chunk of good news this month. Their friends at the ever-cooperative FDA have allowed them to bring a milder version of their prescription fat-blocking drug, Xenical, to the over-the-counter market this summer. The new OTC drug is called alli.
Gratitude
We received the following note from one of our readers. Thanks to all of you who write with comments and suggestions. If you have a friend who might enjoy the Health Tips, click here.
Anti-Aging Medicine
At least once a week, someone asks me about anti-aging therapies. People want to know if there are special supplements, hormones, or injections to keep them youthful. Is there something they’re missing? Will everyone be getting younger while, for them (and them alone) time will march inexorably on?
Longer Life for the Man in Your Life
Former TV host Art Linkletter, now 94, still travels 150,000 miles a year delivering more than 75 lectures on healthful longevity, and moves around like someone in his thirties. I met him when he’d just turned 80 and he looked terrific.
Q&A: Vitamin D
Q: You’ve written a lot about the value of vitamin D, especially for women living in overcast places. I live in Minneapolis and I’m wondering how much I should take every day. Also, I read that vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin and there are risks if you take too much. How much is too much?
Vitamin Graveyard
Do you have a “vitamin graveyard?” You probably do but just never called it that. You’ll find it on your kitchen countertop or along a shelf in your medicine cabinet. Maybe it’s your bathroom window ledge.
Yogurt 101: Become a Label-Reader
When I talk to my patients about nutrition, yogurt comes up as a popular food choice, and overall an excellent one…if you know what’s in your yogurt.