FitSugar

Healthy Tip: Wait 30 Minutes After a Meal to Brush Your Teeth

Leta Shy — Tue, 22 May 2012 11:25:09 PDT

A healthy lifestyle means taking care of your teeth - after all, excess plaque has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, and too much icky bacteria in your mouth can lead to gum disease and cavities. But if you're an après-lunch brusher, take note: you should wait at least 30 minutes to brush your teeth after a meal, according to a report in The New York Times.

The directive is based on a study that followed people for three weeks, looking at the impact of postmeal brushing after they drank diet soda. The researchers found that those who brushed their teeth within 20 minutes of finishing their sodas had increased loss of dentin, the tissue found underneath your teeth's enamel. That's because, researchers say, brushing too soon after an acidic meal pushes the acid further into your teeth, causing erosion of tooth enamel and dentin.

So the next time you are eating a particularly acidic or sugary meal, wait at least 30-60 minutes before you brush your teeth. In the meantime, rinse your mouth with water or a solution of eight parts water to one part baking soda to get rid of the acid in your mouth, researchers recommend. Chewing gum afterward can also help.

Do you brush your teeth immediately after meals?

Soothe Your Scalded Tongue

FitSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:00:00 PST

Cold weather means more hot chocolate, and I will admit my tongue has paid the price of my impatience. Since I can't wait for my cocoa to cool, I have been researching how to help heal a burnt tongue.

Women's Health magazine offered up this simple advice: Rinse with salt water. The saline solution of one teaspoon salt to one warm cup of water can help soothe a scalded tongue. The salt water also draws the infection to the surface of your tongue and can neutralize mouth acids, which promote harmful bacterial growth. Both of these actions help to heal the burn quickly. The only drawback to this method is you need to perform your oceanic oral rinse immediately and that can be challenging to find a salt water solution in a ski lodge. The simplest solution: Wait for your cocoa to cool.

Source

Canker Sores Are No Crack up

FitSugar — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 03:30:00 PDT

Let me just begin by clarifying that canker sores, which occur inside the mouth, are not contagious like cold sores and they have no relation to the herpes virus.

These painful little ulcers can happen anywhere on the soft tissue surfaces inside the mouth – tongue, gums and cheeks. The sores are usually red, but may have a white coating over them.

Anyone can get canker sores, but they seem most prevalent in women in their 20s and can run in families. However, the cause of canker sores remains a mystery, researchers believe they could be caused by the following things:

Faulty immune system function
Nutritional problems, such as a deficiency of vitamin B-12, zinc, folic acid or iron
A disease of the gastrointestinal tract
Food allergies
Menstrual periods

To see how to treat those painful buggers just

Most canker sores disappear on their own in about two weeks. For pain relief, you can try taking ibuprofen. Some people find relief by: sucking on zinc lozenges, taking supplements of the amino acid lysine, or rinsing with a sage-chamomile mouthwash.

Fit's Tips: You should seek medical advice if: a fever accompanies your canker sores, the sores last longer than three weeks, the pain cannot be managed with self care measures, or they prevent you from drinking enough fluids.

You can help reduce the pain also by avoiding irritants like SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate), sometime used in toothpaste, and spicy food.

Source

Anatomy of a Cadbury Crème Egg

Shape — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:18:32 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to nutritional consultant Mike Roussell, PhD, for some help!

We're all familiar with the things that signal spring’s arrival: extra hours of daylight, budding flowers, and Cadbury Crème Eggs on display at every supermarket and drugstore in America. It’s easy to justify grabbing one (or two) of the seasonal treats on your way to the checkout (They’re only available for a few weeks out of the year). But have you ever wondered what’s inside the chocolate shell? You'll be happy to learn that there is actual egg in Cadbury Crème Eggs, but the rest might (or might not) surprise you.

Keep reading to learn what is in a Cadbury Crème Egg

Foodie Friday Link Time: Refreshing Quinoa Salad

Susi May — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 08:32:43 PDT

Holy whole grains! Try this refreshing quinoa salad - Vegetarian Times
Sneaky signs that your alcohol consumption is becoming problematic - Prevention
Are green coffee beans the next dieting miracle? - Blisstree
What in the world is oral allergy syndrome and do you have it? - Self
Celebrate Spring with this tasty and light fava bean recipe - Health
Straight talk about binge eating and how to conquer it - Daily Spark
Does almond milk yogurt live up to the hype? - Fitnessista
Break these diet rules this weekend without guilt or waistline woes - Fitness
Prep these meals in five minutes and then congratulate yourself on home cooking - Shape

Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pills Could Come to a Kiosk Near You

Tara Block — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:40:05 PDT

In a two-day hearing that began yesterday, the FDA is in discussions to expand the number drugs that can be available over the counter, and birth-control advocates are looking to add oral contraception to the list today. Right now the drugs in question include cholesterol, asthma, migraine, and blood-pressure meds. If birth control pills are considered for over-the-counter availability, one of the ideas is to deliver them at drugstores via a computer kiosk. These kiosks would ask women the same health-related questions a doctor would ask - like whether they smoke or not - making sure the women should take the pills.

Women may have to pay more for over-the-counter birth control (insurance companies cover prescriptions, not over-the-counter drugs), but it would increase access when it's not convenient or possible to get a prescription. I know I've heard women complain of getting stuck on vacation without access to a doctor or having to spend an hour in a doctor's office waiting room when their prescriptions run out, and sometimes that can cause a lapse in taking their pill. Would you root for over-the-counter birth control pills?

Are Your Birth Control Pills Safe?

Shape — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:06:17 PST

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar.

Last year during my annual exam, when I complained to my doctor about my terrible PMS, she was quick to pull out her pad and give me a prescription for the birth control pill Yaz. "You're going to love this," she said. "All of my patients that are on it think it's the best. It's even helped some of them lose weight!"

Less PMS and not having to worry about my weight? I was sold, even though I'd only intended to talk to her about lifestyle and/or diet modifications since my birth control needs were already taken care of. Before I stopped into the pharmacy, however, I looked up the pill online (Paging Dr. Google!). The results were anything but the lovefest I'd been promised. In fact, the information I found scared me so badly that I never filled that prescription.

Am I Normal? Your Top Six Sex Questions Answered

It quickly became evident that I wasn't the only woman concerned when Yaz and it's sister pill Yazmin, two of the most popular pills on the market, came up for review by the FDA after reports that the manufacturer may have hid and minimized critical health risks. But is the hysteria warranted?

Find out how safe birth control pills are after the break!

Kristin Chenoweth on That Amazing Smile, Her Skin Care Secrets, and More

Miriam Lacey — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:01:27 PST

Kristin Chenoweth is more than just a triple threat: the lady is a dynamo. She swings from Broadway to television to album-making without missing a beat, and she always looks amazing. Kristin recently became Listerine's newest spokes-smile, so we talked to her about her famous pearly whites, how she keeps her skin looking so great, and what products from the film set she uses at home. To see what she had to say, just keep reading.

Oral Sex and Throat Cancer: The Real Risk

Colleen Barrett — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:45:18 PST

Oh, HPV. There are 130 types of you, but a few spiteful strains won't quit. While various lead to genital warts, only a few like HPV-16 and 18 can cause cervical cancer. Now researchers say HPV-16, transmitted through oral sex, can cause oral cancer. So HPV-16 is a monster, worse than 18, but there are still plenty of strains of HPV that don't cause cervical or oral cancer.

I'm not saying don't be safe, though 81 percent of you said you don't use condoms for oral sex. But since public health officials aren't hyperspecific about actual risk or transmission, it's easy to say "well, we're all screwed" or be completely paralyzed into total fear of all sex (I've seen it).

Here are the facts: about 64 percent of oropharynx cancers (the middle part of the throat) in the US are caused by one HPV strain (HPV-16) not by all HPV. The risk of oropharnyx cancer rises with the number of people someone's performed oral sex on, as is true for any other cancer-causing STD. The real takeaway here is that HPV-16 can cause not just cervical cancer but also oral, so we really should be talking about specific strains and not pinning it all on the very vague and common HPV.

Researchers say it's too soon to tell if the current HPV vaccine will prevent against oral cancer, but since it's targeting the same HPV strain many believe it will. This news shouldn't be used to terrify kids. Instead it should serve as a reminder that the HPV vaccine - one of the many services Planned Parenthood provides besides abortion - is important, and that while oral cancer is not rampant, oral sex does come with risk.

Oral Sex Linked to Throat Cancer

Annie Scudder — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:10:28 PDT

Oral sex might be the new smoking. New research has found that oral sex may cause more cases of throat cancer in men than smoking thanks to HPV transmissions. In 2004, HPV caused 2.6 cases of throat cancer per 100,000 people, compared to .8 cases per 100,000 people in 1998. At this rate, by 2020 HPV will result in more throat cancer in both men and women than cervical cancer.

What's making the rate go up? A higher rate of going down. Cancer researchers told the New York Times that younger people are having more oral sex because they think it's safer than intercourse. In addition to increasing awareness about the risks associated with oral sex, there may be another solution already available.

The HPV vaccines currently recommended for girls could probably help prevent throat cancer when given to boys. Vaccine companies would have to test the drugs for that purpose specifically, and then health professionals would have to convince parents to vaccinate their boys against HPV. But maybe that would be easier than it's been to vaccinate girls against a potentially deadly, yet common STD, since society doesn't have the same hang-ups with male sexuality.