Good To Know VI...

Skip the Diet Soda

• Get ready to ditch your soda habit. Here’s why: Recent research has shown that artificial sweeteners in soda may interfere with your body’s ability to estimate how many calories you’ve ingested, so you eat more than you need. In a new rat study, animals that ate fake sugar consumed more calories overall and gained weight, compared to those that didn’t eat artificially sweetened treats. This is just one study, but it’s enough to make me want to kick the can habit. Need more convincing? For every diet soda you sip daily, your risk of becoming overweight can rise by 37 percent, according to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. We also know that regular soda is a total sugar bomb — most people I know gave it up long ago. At roughly 225 calories a pop, a 20-ounce bottle of regular soda packs nearly as many calories as a chocolate bar (but is much less satisfying). Typically, soda also contains zero nutrients — so who needs it? Still have some soda around? Fine, stow it for guests who haven’t decided to quit. Next time you want a fizz hit, try seltzer with lime (or for a caffeine fix, green tea). What are your favorite low-cal soda substitutes?
• From:http://health.yahoo.com/experts/healthieryou/371/skip-the-diet-soda/

Food For Thought V...

The Mystery of Global Warming's Missing Heat

Some 3,000 scientific robots that are plying the ocean have sent home a puzzling message. These diving instruments suggest that the oceans have not warmed up at all over the past four or five years. That could mean global warming has taken a breather. Or it could mean scientists aren't quite understanding what their robots are telling them. This is puzzling in part because here on the surface of the Earth, the years since 2003 have been some of the hottest on record. But Josh Willis at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory says the oceans are what really matter when it comes to global warming. In fact, 80 percent to 90 percent of global warming involves heating up ocean waters. They hold much more heat than the atmosphere can. So Willis has been studying the ocean with a fleet of robotic instruments called the Argo system. The buoys can dive 3,000 feet down and measure ocean temperature. Since the system was fully deployed in 2003, it has recorded no warming of the global oceans. "There has been a very slight cooling, but not anything really significant," Willis says. So the buildup of heat on Earth may be on a brief hiatus. "Global warming doesn't mean every year will be warmer than the last. And it may be that we are in a period of less rapid warming." In recent years, heat has actually been flowing out of the ocean and into the air. This is a feature of the weather phenomenon known as El Nino. So it is indeed possible the air has warmed but the ocean has not. But it's also possible that something more mysterious is going on. That becomes clear when you consider what's happening to global sea level. Sea level rises when the oceans get warm because warmer water expands. This accounts for about half of global sea level rise. So with the oceans not warming, you would expect to see less sea level rise. Instead, sea level has risen about half an inch in the past four years. That's a lot. Willis says some of this water is apparently coming from a recent increase in the melting rate of glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica. "But in fact there's a little bit of a mystery. We can't account for all of the sea level increase we've seen over the last three or four years," he says. One possibility is that the sea has, in fact, warmed and expanded — and scientists are somehow misinterpreting the data from the diving buoys. But if the aquatic robots are actually telling the right story, that raises a new question: Where is the extra heat all going? Kevin Trenberth at the National Center for Atmospheric Research says it's probably going back out into space. The Earth has a number of natural thermostats, including clouds, which can either trap heat and turn up the temperature, or reflect sunlight and help cool the planet. That can't be directly measured at the moment, however. "Unfortunately, we don't have adequate tracking of clouds to determine exactly what role they've been playing during this period," Trenberth says. It's also possible that some of the heat has gone even deeper into the ocean, he says. Or it's possible that scientists need to correct for some other feature of the planet they don't know about. It's an exciting time, though, with all this new data about global sea temperature, sea level and other features of climate. "I suspect that we'll able to put this together with a little bit more perspective and further analysis," Trenberth says. "But what this does is highlight some of the issues and send people back to the drawing board." Trenberth and Willis agree that a few mild years have no effect on the long-term trend of global warming. But they say there are still things to learn about how our planet copes with the heat.

• From:http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88520025

Food for thought IV...

Is Olive Oil Worth a Splurge?

We've all considered the benefits of splurging on an extravagantly priced olive oil. Is there a magic ingredient lurking in the fancy bottles that will raise our cooking to greatness or is it just a marketing scam? Here's how to make sense of it all...

Buying Tips and Cooking Bits

• -The Language of Labels: Deciphering olive oil labels is a challenge. Those that read, "first cold pressing" or "extra virgin," are the most expensive because they taste the best and are difficult to make. These oils are extracted by a centrifuge, which is an apparatus that rotates at high speed and, in this case, separates the oil from the olive paste using the laws of physics. This special process is done to get around heating the olives, which weakens their true flavor.
• -Where Expensive Counts: That delicious, earthy olive flavor is brightest when the oil is raw. Use that expensive stuff, the "extra virgin" kind that has the truest olive taste, in raw preparations and alongside ingredients that won't overpower it. That way you'll get the most out of your fancy purchase.
• -Avoid Extremes: "Light" olive oil and "Pumace" olive oil don't cut it. It may seem counter-intuitive but don't use "pure olive oil" either, because that usually means it's been refined with chemicals and, sometimes, just blended with plain ol' virgin olive oil.
• -Heat Sensitive: Since olive oil has a lower smoking point than other vegetable oils and is categorically more expensive, I don't use it for high-heat cooking. I use a more affordable oil (i.e., Canola) for jobs such as searing a piece of fish. Then, once it's cooked, I'll top it with some vegetables and a drizzle of good olive oil for flavor.
• -Calorie Count: High in monounsaturated fats and antioxidants, olive oil is considered a healthy part of our diet. However, it is high in calories. 120 per tablespoon makes a salad heavier than you might realize, if you are calorie counting.
• -Forgotten Fruit: It wasn't until recently, despite all my years of cooking, that I realized olives are the "fruit" of the olive tree (which is actually an evergreen!). So, why not pair this "fruit" oil with actual fruits? Quickly sauté some apple or peach slices (for example) in olive oil and serve them with roasted meats, as part of a vegetable stir-fry, or even for a savory touch to basic frozen yogurt.

• From:http://food.yahoo.com/blog/thegreentable/892/is-olive-oil-worth-a-splurge

Baker's Trick...

Old Baker's Trick

Whenever you are entertaining, and want your cake to look like it came right out of a bakery, use a crumb coat. A crumb coat is an old baker's trick that seals moisture in a cake and also makes frosting the cake much easier. Basically it's a thin layer of frosting applied to a completely cooled cake. Allow this layer to set before you frost and decorate the cake. When the final frosting is applied, it is virtually crumb-free, since any loose crumbs have been already sealed in the crumb coat. Give it a try the next time you make a cake—for professional-looking results!

Good To Know! V...

Matching The Pill To The Pain

***Please consult your doctor before taking any medication!

• 1-HEADACHE First choice: Acetaminophen. Pain relievers that also offer caffeine may offer added benefit. Second choice: Aspirin or ibuprofen
• 2-EARACHE First choice: Acetaminophen Secondo choice: Ibuprofen
• 3-BACKACHE First choice: Ibuprofen Second choice: Acetaminophen or naproxen
• 4-MESTRUAL CRAMPS First choice: Ibufen Second choice: Naproxen
• 5-FEVER First choice: Acetaminophen Second choice: Aspirin (but never for children under 18 years)
• 6-SUNBURN First choice: Ibuprofen Second choice: Acetaminophen
• 7-TOOTHACHE First choice: Ibuprofen Second choice: Alternate ibuprofen with acetaminophen until you get to the dentist.
• 8-OSTEOARTHRITIS PAIN First choice: Acetaminophen. Since this is a chronic condition and medication must be taken long term, acetaminophen offers the safest relief. Second choice: Ibuprofen or naproxen
• 9-MUSCLE STRAIN (OVERUSE) First choice: Acetaminophen Second choice: Ibuprofen or naproxen
• 10-MINOR SPRAIN First choice: Ibuprofen is especially good if there's swelling, plus the usual RICE drill-rest, ice,compression and elevation. Second choice: Acetaminophen

Good To Know! IV...

9 Common Travel Scenarios

Here's the first thing you should do when you wind up lost, check into a hotel, enter a historic site, and other travel situations.

• 1-When you get out your suitcase:Update the luggage tags. Remove your home address and add your cell-phone number. Most of us dutifully write our full name, home phone, and home address on our tags, but that reveals too much personal information, says Anne McAlpin, a packing expert and the author of "Pack It Up: The Essential Guide to Organized Travel." Instead, print your first initial and last name — a safety precaution for women, since it doesn’t signal your sex or that you might have jewelry in your bag. Second, leave off your home address. It tells a potentially unscrupulous baggage handler, “No one’s home at this address.” Third, instead of including a home phone (which isn’t much use when you’re not home), include your email address and your cell- phone number. Other information to include on the airline’s paper bag tags (which you can update for each trip): a phone number for (1) your first hotel and (2) a friend or a relative at home who can reach you.
• 2-When your flight gets canceled: Avoid the long line at the airline counter. Instead, call your carrier’s reservations number. You may get faster help by contacting the airline directly, says Peter Greenberg, NBC’s travel editor and the author of "The Complete Travel Detective Bible. Politely ask to be rebooked on the next available flight. If it’s going to be a long wait, ask the representative to transfer your ticket to another airline with a more immediate flight. Although not all carriers are required to do this, some agents can work it out. Stranded overnight? Ask about meal or hotel vouchers. (Every airline has a different policy.) By the way, the possibility of a delay is a good reason to avoid flights later in the day, since there will be fewer same-day rebooking options, says Greenberg.
• 3-When your bag goes missing: File an in-person report at the baggage-claim office right away. If your trip has just begun, ask for a toiletries kit or a voucher for necessities. When you fill out claim paperwork, get a copy of it and write down the direct phone number for the baggage office; you don’t want to call the airline’s 800 number to follow up, says Marybeth Bond, the author of Best Girlfriends Getaways Worldwide. Then carry on with your trip. “In most cases, it’s the airline’s responsibility to deliver your bag to you when it arrives — even if you’re hundreds of miles away from the airport,” says Bond.
• 4-When you check in to a hotel: Request a room below the eighth floor, far from construction, and on a floor with a booster pump. Why below the eighth floor? It’s a scary thought, but in case of, say, a fire, the fire department is equipped to reach you more quickly than folks on the upper floors, says travel editor Peter Greenberg. As for booster pumps, “high-rise hotels have trouble maintaining consistently great water pressure on all their floors, so every few floors they install booster pumps,” explains Greenberg. “You want to be on one of those floors so the pressure in your shower is as strong as a fire hose’s.”
• 5-When you enter a historic attraction: Ask the staff for advice about special exhibits, must-see artifacts, and unusual features. Staff — or, in a pinch, security guards — can often point out little-known gems the guidebooks miss. They might even suggest a way for you to tour the facility (“Go to the third floor and work your way back down”) without getting swept up in the crowds, says tour guide Dave Fox. Another tip: Hit popular sites at lunchtime, rather than first thing in the morning, when tour buses arrive.
• 6-When you walk into your hotel room: Fully check it out (turn on the air conditioner, the shower, the TV) before you unpack, in case you need to switch rooms. Better yet, ask to examine the room thoroughly before you register, in case something isn’t to your liking, says Jessica Singerman, a Trek Travel guide who leads group tours in Europe and Central America. This isn’t rude; it’s just savvy. Prefer a room that isn’t next to the elevator? Ask. Once you’re satisfied, Greenberg suggests a quick cleaning: Wipe the TV remote and the phone handset with disinfecting wipes. Finally, clean water glasses in hot water, in case the housekeeper forgot to replace them after the last guest checked out.
• 7-When you’re offered a local delicacy that makes your stomach turn: Suck it up: Try a small bite. Let go of preconceived notions and just try it, says travel guide Jessica Singerman. You might enjoy it. At worst, you can smile after tasting it and say, “My, that’s interesting.” The locals will probably appreciate your willingness to try something new. The only exception is when you’re offered food that may not have been stored or cooked properly — a common concern in street markets. Don’t risk your health; simply smile and say, “No thanks.”
• 8-When you find yourself lost: Sit down or duck into a café so you can look at your map without looking like, well, a tourist. Sitting down gives you a few minutes to get calm and avoid becoming a target for pickpockets, says Desiree Reyes of Backroads, who led cycling and sports-travel tours for six years. “I always attach a little compass to my belt loop so I can figure out which way is which,” says Reyes. If you still can’t get your bearings, ask a local for help. In a foreign country, college-age folks can be your best bet, since they have probably studied English.
• 9-When you get sick in a foreign country: Enlist the help of your hotel concierge. Hotel staffers often deal with ill guests and can help you get care more quickly — the name of an English-speaking doctor who makes room calls, a cab to the emergency room, or a suggestion for an over-the-counter drug for a minor illness. Many health-insurance plans also have overseas phone numbers of representatives who can provide a list of nearby doctors or pharmacists.

Good To Know! III....

Allergy Alert

Dr. Mao's Secrets: Itchy, watery eyes, running nose, an aching head, and sinus congestion. Sound familiar? You may be among the 37 million people in the United States who suffer from allergic rhinitis or sinusitis. Consider combating your springtime woes naturally with these time-tested self-healing techniques.Allergens in the AirWhen your sinuses, the air-filled hollow cavities around your nose and nasal passages, become inflamed, fluid can accumulate and interfere with normal drainage of mucus in the sinuses. This condition is known as acute sinusitis. The result? You may have trouble breathing through your nose and feel your eyes and facial tissue swell up. Your symptoms may include a headache, fever, a nagging cough, post-nasal drip, thick green or yellow discharge, and a feeling of facial "fullness" that gets worse when you lean forward; during a severe sinus infection, some people even experience a toothache.This uncomfortable condition has many possible causes, including bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, allergies, or a deviated septum. Synonymous with spring, allergic rhinitis, commonly called hay fever, is the inflammatory result of your immune system's overreaction to allergens in the air. Pollen is one famous offender. Other allergens include dirt, pollution, animal hair, food particles cloth fibers, and mold. Surprising Secrets for Sinus HealthHere are some all-natural ways to gain freedom from sinus suffering. • Clear your sinuses and your mind with a steamy stovetop spa. Add a few drops of wintergreen oil to a pot of boiling water and inhale the steam. Take care not to be burned by the vapor. • Herbs and spices like ginger, scallion, basil, garlic, oregano, cayenne peppers, white pepper, horseradish and turmeric will have your sinus passageways unblocked in no time! • The supplement bromelain - a papaya and pineapple-based enzyme - helps reduce histamine release, the body's natural allergic response. • Clear your nasal passageway daily for healthy, happy sinuses. Add 1 tsp of sea salt, 1 drop of oregano oil, and 1 drop of wintergreen to a cup of warm water. Fill a small-spouted squeeze bottle with this warm solution. Squirt into one nostril at a time and blow out through the nose. Alternate nostrils. • Press one clove of garlic, mix with 1 tsp of olive oil and soak a clean cotton ball with the oil mixture and place in nostrils after having washed the nostril with warm salt water. Leave in for 20 minutes and repeat three times a day until the symptoms clear up.• These two simple self-massage practices that follow are incredibly effective for relieving sinus congestion. For both, sit at the tip of a sturdy chair with your back erect, spine stretched, and your head tilted slightly forward. 1. Inhale and gently press your forehead just inside the temples with your palms. Exhale and release. Repeat three times. 2. Cross your middle and index fingers by placing the tips of your middle fingers on top of the fingernails on your index fingers. Rub the sides of your nose 36 times in a circular motion, warming your fingers first if they're cold. What you eat affects your sinus health Avoid the foods that produce mucous and dampness: dairy products, cold and raw foods, corn (including corn syrup), and simple sugars. Choose whole grains like quinoa, amaranth and brown rice instead of wheat, rye and barley, which are typically high allergy grains. Opt for papaya, cranberries, pear, pineapple, cherries, mango, and citrus fruits. Eat more green vegetables such as artichoke, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, cauliflower, and spinach. Both alcohol and smoking should be avoided during a sinus flare-up as they irritate the respiratory tract and worsen nasal inflammation. Also, sinus congestion is often worse with lack of quality rest so be sure to get plenty of sleep and keep your stress level low.I hope that you find the ways to keep your sinuses clear and freely flowing.

Good to Know! II...

Experts now recommend hands-only CPR

You can skip the mouth-to-mouth breathing and just press on the chest to save a life. In a major change, the American Heart Association said Monday that hands-only CPR — rapid, deep presses on the victim's chest until help arrives — works just as well as standard CPR for sudden cardiac arrest in adults. Experts hope bystanders will now be more willing to jump in and help if they see someone suddenly collapse. Hands-only CPR is simpler and easier to remember and removes a big barrier for people skittish about the mouth-to-mouth breathing. "You only have to do two things. Call 911 and push hard and fast on the middle of the person's chest," said Dr. Michael Sayre, an emergency medicine professor at Ohio State University who headed the committee that made the recommendation. Hands-only CPR calls for uninterrupted chest presses — 100 a minute — until paramedics take over or an automated external defibrillator is available to restore a normal heart rhythm. This action should be taken only for adults who unexpectedly collapse, stop breathing and are unresponsive. The odds are that the person is having cardiac arrest — the heart suddenly stops — which can occur after a heart attack or be caused by other heart problems. In such a case, the victim still has ample air in the lungs and blood and compressions keep blood flowing to the brain, heart and other organs. A child who collapses is more likely to primarily have breathing problems — and in that case, mouth-to-mouth breathing should be used. That also applies to adults who suffer lack of oxygen from a near-drowning, drug overdose, or carbon monoxide poisoning. In these cases, people need mouth-to-mouth to get air into their lungs and bloodstream. But in either case, "Something is better than nothing," Sayre said. The CPR guidelines had been inching toward compression-only. The last update, in 2005, put more emphasis on chest pushes by alternating 30 presses with two quick breaths; those "unable or unwilling" to do the breaths could do presses alone. Now the heart association has given equal standing to hands-only CPR. Those who have been trained in traditional cardiopulmonary resuscitation can still opt to use it. Sayre said the association took the unusual step of making the changes now — the next update wasn't due until 2010 — because three studies last year showed hands-only was as good as traditional CPR. Hands-only will be added to CPR training. An estimated 310,000 Americans die each year of cardiac arrest outside hospitals or in emergency rooms. Only about 6 percent of those who are stricken outside a hospital survive, although rates vary by location. People who quickly get CPR while awaiting medical treatment have double or triple the chance of surviving. But less than a third of victims get this essential help. Dr. Gordon Ewy, who's been pushing for hands-only CPR for 15 years, said he was "dancing in the streets" over the heart association's change even though he doesn't think it goes far enough. Ewy (pronounced AY-vee) is director of the University of Arizona Sarver Heart Center in Tucson, where the compression-only technique was pioneered. Ewy said there's no point to giving early breaths in the case of sudden cardiac arrest, and it takes too long to stop compressions to give two breaths — 16 seconds for the average person. He noted that victims often gasp periodically anyway, drawing in a little air on their own. Anonymous surveys show that people are reluctant to do mouth-to-mouth, Ewy said, partly because of fear of infections. "When people are honest, they're not going to do it," he said. "It's not only the yuck factor." In recent years, emergency service dispatchers have been coaching callers in hands-only CPR rather than telling them how to alternate breaths and compressions. "They love it. It's less complicated and the outcomes are better," said Dallas emergency medical services chief Dr. Paul Pepe, who also chairs emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. One person who's been spreading the word about hands-only CPR is Temecula, Calif., chiropractor Jared Hjelmstad, who helped save the life of a fellow health club member in Southern California Hjelmstad, 40, had read about it in a medical journal and used it on Garth Goodall, who collapsed while working out at their gym in February. Hjelmstad's 15-year-old son Josh called 911 in the meantime. Hjelmstad said he pumped on Goodall's chest for more than 12 minutes — encouraged by Goodall's intermittent gasps — until paramedics arrived. He was thrilled to find out the next day that Goodall had survived. On Sunday, he visited Goodall in the hospital where he is recovering from triple bypass surgery. "After this whole thing happened, I was on cloud nine," said Hjelmstad. "I was just fortunate enough to be there." Goodall, a 49-year-old construction contractor, said he had been healthy and fit before the collapse, and there'd been no hint that he had clogged heart arteries. "I was lucky," he said. Had the situation been reversed, "I wouldn't have known what to do." "It's a second lease on life," he added.

From:http://health.yahoo.com/news/ap/hands_only_cpr.html