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Each month we feature one full
article from the current issue of the WELLNESS LETTER, plus our
Ask the Experts column, in addition to brief summaries of the
other articles, listed below.
Vitamins and Exercise Add up to a Surprise
There’s no doubt that exercise—especially the aerobic kind, which works your cardiovascular system—is good for you. But strenuous physical activity does increase the production of potentially harmful free radicals in the body. Thus many exercisers, following the advice of some researchers and supplement marketers, take high doses of antioxidants such as vitamin C and E to help mop up these cellular troublemakers. We’ve questioned this advice in the past, and recently a German study got lots of media attention when it suggested that vitamin C and E can, in fact, block some of the benefits of exercise. Should you run away from these supplements? Full
Story
Let the Chips Fall
You’ve no doubt read scary news stories over the last several years about acrylamide, a suspected human carcinogen that can form in starchy foods when they are heated to high a temperature, such as in frying, grilling, broiling, roasting, toasting, and baking. The chemical first made headlines in 2002 when Swedish researchers detected very high amounts in potato chips and French fries—foods you should limit anyway—and smaller amounts in such staples as breakfast cereals, crackers, and bread. Its presence in cigarette smoke and, to a lesser extent, drinking water had been known for years, but no one had suspected that foods contained acrylamide, too. Since then, FDA scientists have found acrylamide in many other foods—even prunes, soy nuts, peanut butter, and coffee. How risky is acrylamide?
E-quivocal About E-Cigarettes
E-cigarettes are being touted as a healthier and cleaner alternative to cigarettes. Short for "electronic cigarettes," these battery-operated, stainless-steel devices look like real cigarettes and contain a nicotine solution of varying strengths (and flavors), but no tobacco. When you suck on the device, the liquid heats up and produces a fine mist (not smoke) that you inhale. Developed in China in 2004, e-cigarettes are sold on the Internet and in shopping malls across the U.S. under different brand names. Some people use them to try to quit smoking—or just to get around smoking bans. Here are the pro’s and cons.
Cholesterol Busters?
If you have high cholesterol and you can’t lower it enough via diet and exercise and don’t want to take a statin drug, you may be tempted to try supplements that claim to lower cholesterol. Here’s a rundown of some of them, which are sold on their own and in countless "heart-health" formulas. We chose some good ones (such as niacin, sterols, psyllium, and red yeast rice extract) and some questionable ones (garlic, guggul extract, policosanol, and artichoke leaf extract).
Sprouting Claims
If you’re looking for healthier foods, you may try sprouted-grain products, such as sprouted-wheat breads. There are two general types of breads: those made from sprouts with no flour (the sprouted grain is listed as the first ingredient), and those with small amounts of sprouts added to whole-wheat flour for flavor and texture. Little is known about the nutritional virtues of sprouted grains compared with whole grains when baked in bread. Whole grains, sprouted or not, are high in nutrients and fiber. There’s a lot of hype about the supposedly unique benefits of sprouted grains, which are growing in popularity. We separate the wheat from the chaff.
A Mint for All Seasons
The genus Mentha consists of many plants: peppermint, spearmint, watermint, Corsican field mint, and Japanese field mint, to name a few. Some familiar herbs such as marjoram, oregano, and lavender are also in the mint family. Mint has been prized for as long as plants have been cultivated. It’s used in tea and in cooking worldwide, as well as in soothing baths and liniments, and to flavor chewing gums, candies, beverages, toothpastes, and other products. Mint has a long history of being used medicinally, particularly for indigestion and various digestive ailments. Is this wishful thinking, or is science catching up to tradition?
When Feet Take a Pounding
The feet contain a quarter of the body’s bones (26 per foot), nearly three dozen joints, and more than 100 tendons, ligaments, and muscles. Plus, the feet bear all the body’s weight; during high-impact activity, this can result in forces on them as much as 20 times your weight. It’s no wonder, then, that sports-related foot injuries are so common. We discuss five common sports-related foot injuries: tuft toe, sesamoiditis, stress fractures, black toe (subungual hematoma), and plantar fasciitis.
The Return of the Sponge
The Today Sponge is once again available over the counter at some drugstore chains. This nonhormonal birth control device, favored by millions of women when it was introduced in 1983, was discontinued in 1994 due to manufacturing (not safety) issues. It made a brief reappearance in 2005 and is now on its third life.
ASK
THE EXPERTS
Our readers ask: Are raw-milk cheeses safe? Do PMS pills such as Pamprin work? I want to minimize my exposure to X-rays, so how often do I need full-mouth X-rays from my dentist? Is it okay to use hot tap water for cooking and drinking? Full
Story
WELL & INFORMED
Tips, Short Takes, and Other News You Can Use
The moon and health . . . how to get three day’s worth of salt in one meal.
WELLNESS TIPS
• Don’t get hoodwinked by new sunscreens with super-high SPFs of 70 to 100. You might assume that an SPF (sun protection factor) of 80 is twice as effective as 40, so you can apply less or stay in the sun longer. But the difference is tiny: SPF 80 blocks about 99% of ultraviolet-B radiation, while SPF 40 blocks about 97%.
• Make sure large TV sets are securely supported on stands or are well anchored to the wall if you have young children in the house, including visiting grandchildren. More than 264,000 children in the U.S. (most of them younger than 6) were injured by falling furniture between 1990 and 2007, resulting in about 300 deaths. Nearly half were hurt by falling TVs; large flat-screen models, which often sit on a narrow base, are particularly risky.
• If you have persistent insomnia, consider consulting a cognitive behavioral therapist. Such therapy involves not only changing your behavior, but also the way you think. Online cognitive behavioral programs for insomnia can help, too, according to a recent Canadian study.
• If you have arthritis in your thumb, wearing a splint at night may help. In a new study, people with base-of-thumb arthritis who wore a splint at night for a year had less pain and improved hand function, compared to those in the control group, who received their usual care.
• Men over 50 should make a special effort to examine their skin for signs of melanoma. Men are less likely to discover skin lesions than women, which helps explain why they are more likely to die from this dangerous skin cancer. In men, the back is the most common site, but melanoma can occur even on parts of the body rarely exposed to the sun, such as the buttocks, armpits, and soles of the feet. It helps to have someone else check hard-to-see areas.
• If you have a swimming pool, follow safety precautions when storing and handling disinfection chemicals. About 4,600 Americans were treated in the emergency room last year for injuries related to pool chemicals, and nearly half of them involved residential pools.
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