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What's the Deal With All the Food Allergies?

FitSugar — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:00:00 -0700

If it seems like food allergies are everywhere these days, that's because they are. According to a new study from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, food allergies are on the rise, now affecting more than 3 million kids. Approximately one in every 26 children has one, as opposed to one in 29 in 1997. The most common culprits include peanuts, shellfish, milk, and eggs.

Amy Branum, the lead author of the study, says that the 18 percent increase isn't just a fluke, but even the CDC isn't quite sure about the reasons behind the rise. To see the theories, read more.

Though about two in five Americans think they have a food allergy, only about one percent actually do. Most are merely food intolerances, which do not trigger an immune reaction like allergies do. But even so, food allergies are on the rise, according to the latest news:

A doubling in peanut allergies - noted in earlier studies - is one factor, some experts said. Also, children seems to be taking longer to outgrow milk and egg allergies than they did in decades past.

But also figuring into the equation are parents and doctors who are more likely to consider food as the trigger for symptoms like vomiting, skin rashes, and breathing problems.

"A couple of decades ago, it was not uncommon to have kids sick all the time and we just said 'They have a weak stomach' or 'They're sickly,'" said Anne Munoz-Furlong, chief executive of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network, a Virginia-based advocacy organization.

But why the rise in peanut allergies, and why are kids outgrowing their childhood nemeses later? Some folks in the medical community hypothesize that our culture has actually gotten too hygienic. Thanks to clean drinking water and antibiotics, our immune systems don't have as much to battle, so they're battling foods instead.

What do you think lies behind the rise in food allergies? Do you have or have you ever had one?

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Comfort Food: Not Always About Feeling Blue

FitSugar — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:15:00 -0700

We all have our comfort foods like mashed potatoes, Sloppy Joes, and macaroni and cheese just to name a few favorites. Contrary to popular belief, we generally seek out these "comfort foods" when we are already comfortable. A recent study conducted by the Cornell Food and Brand Lab revealed that people were more likely to seek out comfort foods when they were in upbeat moods - 86% associated comfort food with happiness and 74% used comfort foods to reward themselves. In contrast, 39% of the subjects sought out comfort foods when they were depressed and/or lonely.

Comfort foods help us maintain positive feelings or soothe us. When we're in a bad mood, dishes like macaroni and cheese give a quick bump of euphoria since all those carbs help make serotonin the "happy brain chemical."

Many diets fail because dieters think they need to completely swear off their favorite comfort food forever. I am here to say that is just not the case. Go ahead and reward yourself just pay attention to: the portion size, the emotions behind the eating and experiment with non-food rewards.

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E-Patients Explore Online Communities

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:00:32 -0800

Researching your health problems online can be a great way to educate yourself - or scare yourself silly. A whopping 97 percent of Fit readers 'fess up to doing some Internet sleuthing before heading to the doc. There's even a word for us: e-patients.

According to a new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, about 20 percent of e-patients use social-networking and similar sites to chat with medical experts and other patients.

Of course, we're big fans of community around here as a place to share information and links and get a conversation going. To find out more about the online health community revolution, read more.

Says Pew's Susannah Fox:

"They are posting their first-person accounts of treatments and side effects from medications. They are recording and posting those podcasts. They're tagging content. They are part of the conversation. And that, I think, is an indicator of where we could be going in terms of the future of participatory medicine."

In addition to connecting with fellow patients suffering from the same ailments, users are posting their health records online so they can track their test results, blood pressure, and other vital stats. All they're doing all this despite the fact that doctors are behind the times, with only about 17 percent reporting the use of online medical records.

When you're suffering from an ailment, it can be very reassuring to hear from other patients who've gone through the same thing; often, it calms me down and makes me realize I'm not alone. But do you see any danger in patients posting about their medical problems in online communities?

Meanwhile, don't forget to check out our FitSugar Community and join the conversation!

Another Reason to Eat Carbs: Boost Your Mood

FitSugar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:56 -0800

The majority of Fit readers call themselves carb queens, and Winter can make those carbohydrate cravings even more intense. But have no fear: scientists are finding even more reasons not to avoid this essential food group.

A recent study of more than 100 obese and overweight adults in Australia found that dieting put people in a better mood; a drop in pounds led to increased satisfaction. But for people on low-carb diets, the mood boost didn't last.

The study group was split, with half the subjects on a lowfat diet and the other half low-carbing it. Interestingly, folks in both groups lost the same amount of weight on average, about 30 pounds. But after a year, the low-carb dieters also lost the positive mood effects, while the low-fat dieters did not. Here's more from the study.

With Teen Obesity, Inactivity Is Only Part of the Problem

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:32:46 -0800

I panic every time I see another "exercise doesn't work!" story - until I read between the lines and learn once again that exercise is a good thing. On the heels of its conversation-starting cover story on the exercise "myth," Time is tackling a new study of teen obesity that claims inactivity is only partly to blame for heavier kids.

Obesity rates in teenagers have triple between 1976 and 2004, with lack of exercise the suspected culprit. But a new report published in Obesity Reviews says that physical activity levels among teens have actually stayed fairly steady. So does that mean that exercise doesn't matter? Hardly, so read more.

Unfortunately, this latest study only looked at activity levels, not eating habits, and the participants were self-reporting on their own habits, which can lead to unreliable data. These figures merely suggest that the increase in teen obesity can't be explained away by teens' lack of exercise, according to Dr. Youfa Wang, the lead author of the study. Here's more:

So does this mean that exercise isn't important in controlling weight? As tempting as that conclusion might be, Wang and other health experts say that's not exactly what the new data show. . . . While exercise may not contribute directly to weight loss, it is critical for maintaining a healthy weight, since it helps calibrate the balance between energy taken in and energy burned off. "The data is too gross, and too general, to assume that [exercise doesn't count]," warns Dr. Janet Walberg Rankin, a professor in the department of human nutrition, foods, and exercise at Virginia Tech. "We need to have a dual approach to weight involving both activity and diet. I would hate for people to take away from this study that activity has nothing to do with weight."

Phew! Thanks, doc. I also hope that's not what people take away from this study. In fact, to me, it says the opposite. If teen obesity is going up because teens have increased their calorie intake without increasing their activity levels, then that seems to say pretty clearly that exercise does make a difference. Do you agree?

Yet Another Study Confirms: Eating Mindlessly Means Eating More

FitSugar — Fri, 18 May 2007 02:30:00 -0700

Let's start with the moral of the tale, seeing is believing. If you could see the quantities of food you were consuming you would probably stop before you overindulged. Especially when you consider the fact that the stomach takes about 20 minutes of eating to register a sense of feeling full.

A recent study, published in the journal Perceptual and Motor Skills, illustrates this point brilliantly. A group of 52 graduate students (17 men and 35 women) were told they were being treated to "all you can eat chicken wings" while watching the Super Bowl. The waitresses were instructed to clear the dirty plates from only half of the tables. And...you guessed it; the folks at the tables that were cleared regularly ate more. On an average grad students at the clean tables ate 28% more wings than the grad students sitting at tables littered with chicken wing remains. So, I repeat once again, seeing is believing.

Fit's Tip: Don't eat directly from the bag of chips. Place a reasonable size portion in a bowl and snack from that. When the bowl is empty you know you have consumed a serving, instead of accidentally finishing off the entire bag.

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Don't Blow Your Healthy Habits at the Movies This Weekend

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:53 -0800

It's a big movie weekend, for sure. With New Moon finally out, I've already committed myself to spend an afternoon at the theater - the only complication is that I'm not so fond of the movie-theater fare. It's an admittedly challenging place to stick to healthy food choices, since there usually aren't any to begin with. Just in case you don't believe me, recent research is revealing just how unhealthy movie popcorn can be - and it's probably a lot worse than you think.

An article from WebMd highlights the Center for Science in the Public Interest's findings on the state of popcorn, which claims movie theater popcorn is just about as bad for you as "a pound of baby back ribs and a scoop of Haagen-Dazs ice cream or maybe two Big Macs" - and that's before you even add the butter. For the study, researchers sent samples of popcorn and toppings from three different movie theater chains and compared their findings to the chains' own nutritional information. What they found is likely to make you rethink how you view your movie treat.

The study's results show that the calorie count of movie theater popcorn ranges from just about 400 to 1,200 calories, and contains an alarming serving of saturated fat that's equivalent to three days worth of your daily recommended portion, and anywhere from 200 (in the smallest 6-cup size serving) to 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Additionally, the study revealed that both AMC and Regal theaters pop their popcorn in coconut oil, which has a saturated fat content of a whopping 90 percent. Cinemark theaters, which pops their popcorn in canola oil, earns the rep as the healthiest chain, with a significantly lower saturated fat content - ranging from 2 grams in the 420-calorie small size to 5 grams in the 910-calorie large popcorn bucket. But, keep in mind that popcorn is usually just a part of the order - add a soda or your choice of candy, and your order is easily nearing 1,700 calories.

To learn about healthier options at the movies read more.

To avoid a serious caloric overload on your movie outing, the solutions are simple. Opt to share a small, unbuttered popcorn, and request that it be popped without salt (according to the article, these chains will happily oblige), or knosh on something healthy before you head out. If you can, bring a small bag of almonds or a piece of fruit along. Be smart about your choices, and don't let one afternoon at the movies spoil your healthy habits. It's totally fine to indulge every now and then, but a 1,200-calorie serving of popcorn that packs more saturated fat than you need in three days is hardly a treat for your bod or health.

Another Plastic Health Risk - Erectile Dysfunction

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:13:34 -0800

While there have been previous studies, linking bisphenol A (BPA), found in hard plastics, to health problems, including precancerous tumors, prostate cancer, and brain damage, a new study, conducted in China, substantiates its claims with results in humans. In one of the first studies of its kind to be conducted on humans, researchers are finding that much of what they've previously seen in animal studies holds true - men exposed to significant amounts of BPA are at greater risk of sexual health problems.

The study compared the levels of sexual dysfunction in two groups of male factory workers - one group, which was exposed to high levels of BPA, while the other was not. The overall findings of the research reveal that when BPA enters the body, it may mimic estrogen, and block male sex hormones from functioning. In the males who were exposed to high levels of BPA, researchers observed that the risk of erectile dysfunction was four times that of a man not exposed to the chemicals.

According Dr. Rebecca Sokol, the director of the andrology program at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, and specialist in the effects of toxins on the reproductive system, these are some "compelling results." She notes that, "It's not cause and effect, but when you have the kind of ambient air quality assessment that they made, it comes pretty close to cause and effect."

To learn more about the study keep reading

Marijuana Update: Addiction Rates and Health Risks

FitSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:00:33 -0700

Aside from proposals to tax marijuana to ease budget gaps, the substance hasn't been much in the news since Michael Phelps was photographed smoking a spliff last year. A new Austrailian review of marijuana studies puts cannabis back in the spotlight. According to researchers down under, four percent of the adult population of the world got high in the year 2006 with marijuana use highest in the younger populations of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.

Researchers also found that pot has a nine percent addiction rate, which is low when compared with the legal substance of nicotine, which has a 32 percent rate of addiction. Heroin's addiction rate is 23 percent, but the study found that about 10 percent of pot smokers become daily users. Unsurprisingly, upper respiratory problems like wheezing, bronchitis, and chronic coughing are associated with regular use of marijuana. A large Swedish study found that using pot before age 18 doubled a user's risk for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and a separate study found that use of cannabis in high school is associated with dropping out of school. And yet another study found that men that smoked pot daily were four times more likely to have trouble reaching orgasm. Seems like reasons add up not to inhale.

Bone Health Requires Some Specific Exercise

FitSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:36 -0800

Turns out if you want to keep your bones healthy, you'd better start young and be specific about which exercise you choose. The New York Times reveals the findings of a new study which indicates that, contrary to popular belief, "any and all activity" may not benefit your bones.

In fact, as researchers investigate the effect of exercise on bone health, it has become increasingly clear that various kinds of exercise produces varying results on bone conditioning. Until recently, researchers believed that the impact of running, or any similar high-impact exercise, would transform the bone, "deforming" it just slightly. As a result of running, the bone would give slightly to the force of the physical activity, and the bone cells would stretch in response and adapt to the repeated exercise by adding cells and becoming denser. But this is not the case. In actuality, researchers have now found that the bone cells don't stretch; instead, when the bone bends, it "squeezes bone fluid" from one part of the bone "matrix" to another, and it's this extra fluid that causes the cells to add denser bone in response.

The key is that only certain types of exercise produce this kind of bone-bending, and the subsequent response to add dense bone-building. Says Alexander G. Robling, an assistant professor in the department of anatomy and cell biology at Indiana University School of Medicine, "large forces released in a relatively big burst” are crucial to building healthy bones, which is why activities like weight lifting won't help bone-bend or produce stronger, denser bones. But the exercises that will? Running, brisk walking at a fast pace, and surprisingly, repeated jumping.