an apple a day

Now that my New Media class is over, I won’t be posting here regularly anymore, but check back from time to time as I’ll certainly be putting up interesting tidbits when I get a chance. Thanks for reading, and if you have any tips or questions, feel free to send them to annamaltbyATgmailDOTcom.

Cheers,

Anna

I realize this has little to do with preventive medicine, but I am posting it because A) it is totally nuts and B) it was posted in MSNBC’s “Health” section, so it’s sooort of relevant.

Apparently a Western Kansas woman sat on her boyfriend’s toilet for two years–so long that her skin actually began to grow around the toilet seat, according to this story on MSNBC.com.

I really don’t have much to say about this, other than “EW.”

When I saw this promo’d on MySpace, I thought it was a comedy video, but it actually contains some pretty helpful, science-based tips. Take careful notes if you’re heading Spring Break-ward.

How To Cure a Hangover

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Last week, Melvin wrote:

you should do a piece on ginger tea. the ginger bounce rooibos at the coffee-house is particularly excellent. my friend rachel told me one time to drink it with an lemon wedge and some cayenne pepper. will you please tell me what that’s all about, aside from being far more delicious than it sounds?

Melvin, the combination you described sounds like the perfect antidote (other than avgolemono, of course) to the common winter cold. Let’s break it down by each of the excellent ingredients:

1. Rooibos. This caffeine-free, brilliantly-colored red tea comes from a legume bush in South Africa. It’s got a ton of antioxidants — so many, in fact, that some researchers believe it may help prevent allergies and even cancer. Read more about it in this Men’s Health article, which I may or may not have written.
2. Ginger. Another powerful antioxidant, ginger has many widely-known health benefits, but Preventive Medicine Blog touched on some of them last year: ginger is often used to treat upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, headaches and - bingo! - the common cold.
3. Lemon. An excellent source of Vitamin C, lemons can help boost the immune system to fight off what’s ailing you.
4. Cayenne pepper. Oh, sweet sweet cayenne pepper. Need I remind you of this epic blog post? As I discovered firsthand that day, capsaicin, a compound found in chilies and a prime ingredient in cayenne pepper, cuts off the neurotransmitters in the brain that cause you to feel headache pain, according to a study that Men’s Health wrote about. Perfect for those pesky cold-related headaches.

Melvin, it sounds like your friend Rachel knows what she’s talking about!

I just have to rave for a second about an ingredient I can’t seem to get enough of this week: Cibo Naturals’ sun-dried tomato pesto. This stuff is absolutely delicious, and not so bad for you. In a whopping 1/4 cup serving (whopping because I’ve pretty much been using this in tiny doses as a spread or dip), you’ll find 23 grams of fat, but only 2 of them are saturated. I’m pretty sure most of it comes from the heart-healthy walnuts crushed up inside. It also only contains 11 g of carbs and 170 mg of sodium.

If you’re like me, and you’re absolutely unable to control yourself around French onion dip or any other salty/fatty condiment, give this stuff a shot. It’s also great for people (like my brother) who are allergic to pine nuts but miss eating pesto. I’ve been using it:

1. In pasta, as a quick and easy topping in lieu of sauce.
2. On sandwiches: I made probably the most delicious tuna melt in the world earlier, spreading the pesto on both pieces of bread and melting a slice of organic American cheese on top of some tuna salad. Mmmm.
3. On crackers or, if you must, chips.

(Photo by me. Knock yourself out.)

Thanks, New York Times. Brilliant.

(And thanks, Creighton!)

For anyone who’s ever been to Whole Foods, this won’t come as much of a surprise, but Alexandra Haller at Her Active Life blogged recently about how healthy foods are becoming more expensive, while unhealthy foods are getting cheaper. Haller cited this story from MSNBC, which quotes the University of Washington study that revealed this trend. The researchers examined the prices of about 375 foods and beverages at Seattle supermarket chains in 2004 and 2006 and found that, “[w]hereas the price of the lowest-calorie fruits and vegetables was more than $18.16 per 1,000 calories, the most calorie-rich foods cost $1.76 per 1,000 calories.” Also notable was the change in price over two years:

[T]he average price of the lowest-calorie foods — including green vegetables, tomatoes and berries — increased by almost 20 percent over 2 years. In contrast, in the same time period there was a 2-percent dip in the cost of the most calorie-laden fare, such as butter, potato chips, cookies and candy bars.

My first thought after reading this was that this trend could help explain why lower-income people are more likely to be obese than higher-income people. [Read more →]

So I’ve been a bad blogger this week - apologies! - but to make up for it, let’s kick things off with a blog post you can really sink your teeth into (couldn’t resist…). While we all know about the amazing antioxidant effects of chocolate, something you may not know is that chocolate also contains substances that significantly lower blood pressure — as much as blood pressure medications. According to Kathleen Blanchard at Her Active Life, the reason for the blood pressure effect isn’t clear, but it may have something to do with the way chocolate boosts nitric oxide, a substance that helps blood vessels.

Kathleen doesn’t specify which kind of chocolate is the best, but Prevention makes it clear: dark chocolate is the only way to go if you want the maximum heart-health, antioxidant and blood pressure effects, according to this story. They also provide this amazing suggestion for a way to get some chocolate into your life:

Saucy pears Sprinkle 1 teaspoon lemon juice on 2 pears (peeled, stems left on); add 2 tablespoons water; microwave 2 minutes on high, covered. Drizzle with chocolate sauce.

Mmmm!

As this winter drags on and on (today’s unseasonably warm temperatures notwithstanding), so does cold season. Watch this video to learn how to make a delicious and nutritious reinvention of traditional chicken noodle soup: Greek avgolemono, courtesy of “Recipes from the Night Kitchen” by Sally Nirenberg. Recipe below.

(If you’re using Internet Explorer and/or the video player above does not work, see the video at blip.tv: http://amaltby.blip.tv/#717789).

Avgolemono

8 cups chicken stock or broth

1/3 cup orzo or rice

8 large egg yolks

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Parsley, dill, crushed red pepper, ground black pepper, paprika

1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in soup pot. Add orzo, reduce heat, simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, separate egg yolks from whites and squeeze lemons for juice.
3. Whip egg yolks and lemon juice together in a bowl.
4. Gradually add some of stock mixture to lemon mixture, being careful not to let eggs curdle. Return mixture to soup pot.
5. Add spices and herbs to taste.
6. Whisk soup and cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes.
7. Garnish with paprika and serve.

(From “Recipes from the Night Kitchen” by Sally Nirenberg. Special thanks to my cousin Pamela for the great cookbook!)

(Don’t you love the word “newfangled”?)

A new product called the SteriPen JourneyLCD uses ultraviolet light to purify water and remove harmful bacteria. It’ll be available starting in April for $130 at camping and travel stores, says this story in the New York Times. The SteriPen includes an LCD screen that displays how much time has passed since the pen has been swishing through your water–helpful since the recommended 48 seconds for 16 ounces of water is kind of a long time.

The L.C.D. screen and its messages are a good idea, said James P. Malley Jr., a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, who specializes in the use of ultraviolet light for treating drinking water. “Forty-eight seconds is a long time for some people,” Mr. Malley said of the purification process with the wand. Without a display screen to guide them, people might be inclined to do a perfunctory job of disinfection.

Though it’s pricey, this product will be great for travelers and campers. Bye-bye, Moctezuma’s revenge!