Chicken: white meat with many antibiotics and growth harmones

 Arsenic in Our Chicken?

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Let’s hope you’re not reading this column while munching on a chicken sandwich.

That’s because my topic today is a pair of new scientific studies suggesting that poultry on factory farms are routinely fed caffeine, active ingredients of Tylenol and Benadryl, banned antibiotics and even arsenic.

“We were kind of floored,” said Keeve E. Nachman, a co-author of both studies and a scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future. “It’s unbelievable what we found.”

He said that the researchers had intended to test only for antibiotics. But assays for other chemicals and pharmaceuticals didn’t cost extra, so researchers asked for those results as well.

“We haven’t found anything that is an immediate health concern,” Nachman added. “But it makes me question how comfortable we are feeding a number of these things to animals that we’re eating. It bewilders me.”

Likewise, I grew up on a farm, and thought I knew what to expect in my food. But Benadryl? Arsenic? These studies don’t mean that you should dump the contents of your refrigerator, but they do raise serious questions about the food we eat and how we should shop.

It turns out that arsenic has routinely been fed to poultry (and sometimes hogs) because it reduces infections and makes flesh an appetizing shade of pink. There’s no evidence that such low levels of arsenic harm either chickens or the people eating them, but still...

Big Ag doesn’t advertise the chemicals it stuffs into animals, so the scientists conducting these studies figured out a clever way to detect them. Bird feathers, like human fingernails, accumulate chemicals and drugs that an animal is exposed to. So scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Arizona State University examined feather meal — a poultry byproduct made of feathers.

One study, just published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, Environmental Science & Technology, found that feather meal routinely contained a banned class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. These antibiotics (such as Cipro), are illegal in poultry production because they can breed antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” that harm humans. Already, antibiotic-resistant infections kill more Americans annually than AIDS, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

The same study also found that one-third of feather-meal samples contained an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl. The great majority of feather meal contained acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.

Poultry-growing literature has recommended Benadryl to reduce anxiety among chickens, apparently because stressed chickens have tougher meat and grow more slowly. Tylenol and Prozac presumably serve the same purpose.

Researchers found that most feather-meal samples contained caffeine. It turns out that chickens are sometimes fed coffee pulp and green tea powder to keep them awake so that they can spend more time eating. (Is that why they need the Benadryl, to calm them down?)

The other peer-reviewed study, reported in a journal called Science of the Total Environment, found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested. Almost 9 in 10 broiler chickens in the United States had been fed arsenic, according to a 2011 industry estimate.

These findings will surprise some poultry farmers because even they often don’t know what chemicals they feed their birds. Huge food companies require farmers to use a proprietary food mix, and the farmer typically doesn’t know exactly what is in it. I asked the United States Poultry and Egg Association for comment, but it said that it had not seen the studies and had nothing more to say.

What does all this mean for consumers? The study looked only at feathers, not meat, so we don’t know exactly what chemicals reach the plate, or at what levels. The uncertainties are enormous, but I asked Nachman about the food he buys for his own family. “I’ve been studying food-animal production for some time, and the more I study, the more I’m drawn to organic,” he said. “We buy organic.”

I’m the same. I used to be skeptical of organic, but the more reporting I do on our food supply, the more I want my own family eating organic — just to be safe.

To me, this underscores the pitfalls of industrial farming. When I was growing up on our hopelessly inefficient family farm, we didn’t routinely drug animals. If our chickens grew anxious, the reason was perhaps a fox — and we never tried to resolve the problem with Benadryl.

My take is that the business model of industrial agriculture has some stunning accomplishments, such as producing cheap food that saves us money at the grocery store. But we all may pay more in medical costs because of antibiotic-resistant infections.

Frankly, after reading these studies, I’m so depressed about what has happened to farming that I wonder: Could a Prozac-laced chicken nugget help?

USDA is changing the way its inspectors oversee chicken processing.

As Dana Milbank of the Washington Post puts it, this is

a proposal to allow chicken slaughterhouses to inspect themselves — eliminating those pesky federal monitors who have the annoying habit of taking diseased birds out of the food supply.
Even if the Obama administration were inclined to bring down capitalism with an orgy of overregulation, there isn’t enough money in the budget to enforce the rules on the books. That’s what the chicken fight is about: Spending cuts…are a form of de facto deregulation (my emphasis).

The New York Times account of this policy change notes that inspectors:

had observed numerous instances of poultry plant employees allowing birds contaminated with fecal matter or other substances to pass. And even when the employees try to remove diseased birds, they face reprimands….
The Agriculture Department proposal allows poultry plants to speed up their assembly lines to about 200 birds per minute from 140, hampering any effort to examine birds for defects.

But that’s not all. The Center for Livable Future at Johns Hopkins reports that meal made from chicken by-products (in this case, feathers) contains arsenic and antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones that have been banned by the FDA for use in poultry.
A study published in Environmental Science & Technology found fluoroquinolone antibiotics in 8 of 12 samples of feather meal collected from six states and China.
A second study found arsenic in every sample of feather meal tested.
These findings indicate that poultry producers are using these drugs, even though they are not allowed to.
The U.S. poultry industry raises about 9 billion chickens and 80 million turkeys for human consumption each year. Meal made from their feathers is commonly added to feed for chickens, pigs, cattle, and fish. This could be a reentry route into the human food supply for such drugs.
Nicholas Kristof explains in the New York Times that these studies also found feather meal to contain

an antihistamine that is the active ingredient of Benadryl…[and] acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol. And feather-meal samples from China contained an antidepressant that is the active ingredient in Prozac.
Poultry-growing literature has recommended Benadryl to reduce anxiety among chickens, apparently because stressed chickens have tougher meat and grow more slowly. Tylenol and Prozac presumably serve the same purpose.

Such findings indicate some of the worst problems with industrial poultry production. They result from pressures to produce chickens cheaply. The faster chickens can be pushed to grow, the less feed they consume and the cheaper they are to raise.
I don’t know what the best system for inspection might be, but I’m quite sure that leaving food safety oversight to the discretion of the packers is not a good idea. Neither is speeding up the line. And neither is feeding chickens drugs that can affect human health.
Here is even more evidence for the need for an overhaul of our food safety system.
A single food safety system anyone?

 

consumers junk Centre for Science and Environment report

NEW DELHI | BANGALORE: Fast-food chains McDonald's and KFC, and packaged food brands like Lay's chips and Maggi noodles reported normal sales this weekend, despite a study on Friday alleging high levels of trans-fat, sugar and salts in their food on Friday.

Analysts say it is natural for consumers of chips, burgers and noodles to ignore Centre for Science and Environment's warning because they know what they are getting into when they consume chips and fast food.

"The perception is that these food are junk anyway. If they want health, consumers would turn to salads," a consumer goods analyst said on condition of anonymity.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), headed by health and environment activist Sunita Narain, on Friday said most junk foods contain very high levels of trans-fat, sugar and salt, enough to cause obesity, diabetes and hypertension, and called for stricter regulations.

But the new study apparently failed to have the same impact as its findings of high levels of pesticides in colas in 2003 and again in 2006 that dented sales of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo during 2004-06. "The incidence of pesticides is considered unsafe as the consumer did not know the product contained it," the analyst quoted earlier said.

Store managers of McDonalds' in Delhi-NCR, Bangalore and Kolkata and a manager of KFC told ET that their outlets did not report any drop in footfalls over the weekend and on Monday afternoon.

Executives of the country's top two organised retailers, Future Group and Reliance Retail, said they did not witness any drop in potato chips and instant noodles sales over the weekend.

"We haven't seen any significant changes in buying patterns of these products," Devendra Chawla, food & FMCG president at Future Group, said. But Spencer's Retail, which runs more than 200 stores across India, said sales of instant noodles and chips dropped 20-22% in the weekend as compared to usual sales.

"Since chips and instant noodles are impulse-driven categories, consumers tend to react to any negative news," Spencer's Retail Executive Director (Marketing) Sanjay Gupta said.

"However, usually such phenomenon does not last long and sales tend to revive over time," he added. He did not share specific numbers for the brands cited in the CSE report. When ET visited the outlets of KFC and McDonald's in Kolkata's Park Street on Monday lunchtime, the footfall and occupancy was less than on usual days. And an employee of the KFC outlet said sales have been impacted by around 8-10%.

But, largely, Indian consumers have ignored the CSE warning.

Social commentator and advertising industry veteran Santosh Desai says food-related controversies have rarely dented consumption. "There's a fundamental difference in food consumption habits in India and the West. Here, if anything, people think going to McDonald's occasionally is a healthier option because it's cleaner," he said.

And there has not been much demand for healthier baked and sugar-free foods. In fact, some high-profile sugar-free and low-calorie foods have fallen flat in recent times, as Indians prefer taste to health.

Pepsi Max, PepsiCo's no-sugar, 'next-generation' cola, was withdrawn within a few months of launch, while the country's largest biscuit maker Parle Products took its baked chip brand Monaco Smart Chips off shelves barely a year after its national launch.

Desai said that the case of pesticides in colas was different, because pesticide is recognised as a contaminant. The CSE report, which tested 16 popular brands, had said that food items such as potato chips, burgers and noodles almost wipe out one's daily permissible limits of trans-fat, salt and sugar in just one serving.

Junk food: eat at your own risk

Junk food is bad for health. Its definition tells its inner story—food that is high on calories and saturated fat but low on nutrition. Junk food is all about pleasure and empty calories. So, the world is worried. It is now linked to the growing epidemic of non-communicable diseases—the ‘fat’ problem. Every ailment from heart diseases to hypertension and diabetes is linked to how one eats and how one exercises. Junk food has become the world’s biggest health headache. And some governments are taking action—banning junk food advertising in children’s programmes, removing it from schools and even imposing a fat tax. Sugar, salt and fat are items that need to be regulated. This means governments have to step in to control the powerful processed food industry. But this is not happening in India. It believes food industry has full privilege to sell anything—and kill people slowly and sweetly. So, the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory of the Centre for Science and Environment, a non-profit in Delhi, decided to investigate the food people love to eat—everything from chips to bhujia and instant noodles to burgers. All the food that is sold to us through persuasive and glamorous advertisements; all the food that our film and cricket stars tell us to eat. The laboratory checked for fats, carbs, salt and trans fats. The results are deadly and damning. Eat at your own risk, is the message.
Photo: Harsha K R

Fat of the matter
FRIED POTATO CHIPS It has around 33% fats. This means if one munches a standard-sized packet of chips (65-75gm), he or she consumes about half of the daily fats quota. Unlike in a balanced diet, where a maximum of 30% of calories should come from fats, 50-60% of calories come from fats in chips	INDIAN SNACKS Fats and carbohydrates combined, 100 gm of Kurkure has enough calories to satisfy one-fourth of one’s daily recommended quota. If you are fond of aloo bhujia with tea, you get high doses of salt and trans fats, along with a high amount of calories
INSTANT NOODLES The “tasty and healthy” meal comes with high salt, empty calories. A packet of noodle has around 3 gm of salt; recommended intake is 6 gm/day. Addition of vitamins, as claimed by Maggie Noodles, doesn’t make it a healthy food as it has negligible fibres; 70% of it is just carbohydrates	POTATO FRIES Fries that one eats with burger and soft drink are laden with fats: 20% of its weight is fats, 1.6% of its weight is trans fats. By eating a large serving (220 gm), one exceeds the safe limit for trans fats. Additional trans fats come from accompanying burger too
BURGER KFC’s Chicken Zinger has 16.9% fats. McAloo has 8.3% fats. How unbalanced diets are they is gauged from the fact that 35% of calories in a veg burger come from fats. In non-veg burgers 47% calories are from fats	CARBONATED DRINKS The 300 ml serving that one drinks with all kinds of junk food has enough sugar (over 40 gm) to exceed one’s daily sugar quota of 20 gm. After this, forget the cup of tea, one should not even eat fruits. Any additional sugar will make one fat
FRIED CHICKEN Regular consumption of this product is likely to make one obese. A two-piece fried chicken of KFC (about 250gm) has nearly 60 gm of fats, which is recommended for the whole day	PIZZA By far, pizzas were found to be healthy compared to the other junk foods tested. They have low levels of salt and fats; levels of trans fats were also low. CSE tested only the basic pizza. Those with extra cheese are more popular and might not be very safe

Consumers duped
There is no proper definition for junk food. According to the Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006, foods like burgers, pizzas and chips fall under the category of “propriety or novel” food, for which standards have not been specified but they are not unsafe. So this category of foods declare their composition only broadly. Fast food giants take advantage of this provision to dupe consumers. Even though Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) mandates food companies to declare the information of the total energy, carbohydrates and sugars, proteins, fats and transfats on the product label, the study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reveals that the consumer has no way of knowing what he or she is eating.
Flouting norms: Haldiram Aloo Bhujia and Top Ramen instant noodles claim to be trans fats-free. But CSE study found they are not. As per FSSAI rules, a product can claim to be trans fats free if it contains less than 0.2 gm of trans fats per serving. As per the CSE study, a packet of Top Ramen instant noodles has 0.6 gm of trans fats; 100 gm of Haldiram Aloo Bhujia has 2.5 gm of trans fats. Though Haldiram claims its serving size is 10 gm, it is nothing but a gimmick. Consumption habit of people exceed this serving size and they end up consuming more trans fats.
[1]

Dangerous of Sugar

Links: Sugar - Sweetened Drinks Linked to Heart Disease
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/health/research/sugar-sweetened-drinks-linked-to-heart-disease.html?_r=2&src=tp

Regulating Our Sugar Habit

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/regulating-our-sugar-habit/?hp

What Eating Too much sugar does to your brain

http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/04/01/what-eating-too-much-sugar-does-to-your-brain/

Kids eat and drink way too much added sugar, the CDC says

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/29/news/la-heb-added-sugar-kids-diet-20120229

How Sugar Affects Kids
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/08/childrens-cereal-more-sugar-than-a-twinkie/#sugar

5 Natural Sweeteners Demystified
http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/29/better-than-sugar-5-natural-sweeteners-demystified/#turbinado-sugar

Should Sugar Be Regulated like Alcohol and Tobacco?

http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/02/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol-and-tobacco/#ixzz1qr6KZrUt

Debunking Sugar-Consumption Myths
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/debunking-sugar-consumption-myths/

Kids’ Cereals Pack More Sugar Than Twinkies and Cookies
http://www.ewg.org/release/kids-cereals-pack-more-sugar-twinkies-and-cookies

The researchers say their findings upend the popular belief that social networks and environment heavily determine our personal norms about healthy weight. The upshot is this: habits formed in childhood related to eating and exercise carry over in adulthood, long after you’ve left home For parents, Brown says the message is to be a culinary role model. If you choose healthy foods and moderate portions, your children will take note. Moreover, it’s important to start early. When researchers looked at 10-year-olds, their behavior had already stabilized, suggesting they learn eating norms in early childhood. “If we don’t form good habits in childhood, obesity will continue to increase over time,” Brown says.

Is Sugar Toxic ?

Sugar and Kids: The Toxic Truth

Exercise for weight loss: Calories burned in 1 hour

By Mayo Clinic staff Being active is an important part of any weight-loss or weight-maintenance program. When you're active, your body uses more energy (calories). And when you burn more calories than you consume, you lose weight loss.
Because 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound (0.45 kilogram) of fat, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in to lose 1 pound. So if you cut 500 calories from your diet each day, you'd lose about 1 pound a week (500 calories x 7 days = 3,500 calories). Because of changes that occur in the body over time, however, calories may need to be decreased further to continue weight loss.
While diet has a stronger effect on weight loss than physical activity does, physical activity, including exercise, has a stronger effect in preventing weight gain and maintaining weight loss.
For most healthy adults, the Department of Health and Human Services recommends these exercise guidelines:

• Aerobic activity. Get at least 150 minutes a week of moderate aerobic activity or 75 minutes a week of vigorous aerobic activity. However, to effectively lose or maintain weight, some people may need up to 300 minutes a week of moderate physical activity. You also can do a combination of moderate and vigorous activity. The guidelines suggest that you spread out this exercise during the course of a week, and sessions of activity should be at least 10 minutes in duration.
• Strength training. Do strength training exercises at least twice a week. No specific amount of time for each strength training session is included in the guidelines.

Moderate aerobic exercise includes such activities as brisk walking, swimming and mowing the lawn. Vigorous aerobic exercise includes such activities as running and aerobic dancing. Strength training can include use of weight machines, or activities such as rock climbing or heavy gardening.
As a general goal, aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. This chart shows the estimated number of calories burned while doing various exercises for one hour. Specific calorie expenditures vary widely depending on the exercise, intensity level and your individual situation.

Activity (1-hour duration)	Weight of person and calories burned
	160 pounds (73 kilograms)	200 pounds (91 kilograms)	240 pounds (109 kilograms)
Aerobics, high impact	533	664	796
Aerobics, low impact	365	455	545
Aerobics, water	402	501	600
Backpacking	511	637	763
Basketball game	584	728	872
Bicycling, < 10 mph, leisure	292	364	436
Bowling	219	273	327
Canoeing	256	319	382
Dancing, ballroom	219	273	327
Football, touch or flag	584	728	872
Golfing, carrying clubs	314	391	469
Hiking	438	546	654
Ice skating	511	637	763
Racquetball	511	637	763
Resistance (weight) training	365	455	545
Rollerblading	548	683	818
Rope jumping	861	1,074	1,286
Rowing, stationary	438	546	654
Running, 5 mph	606	755	905
Running, 8 mph	861	1,074	1,286
Skiing, cross-country	496	619	741
Skiing, downhill	314	391	469
Skiing, water	438	546	654
Softball or baseball	365	455	545
Stair treadmill	657	819	981
Swimming, laps	423	528	632
Tae kwon do	752	937	1,123
Tai chi	219	273	327
Tennis, singles	584	728	872
Volleyball	292	364	436
Walking, 2 mph	204	255	305
Walking, 3.5 mph	314	391	469

How Much Aspirin Is Too Much of a Good Thing?

 

More than 40 million American adults already take an aspirin a day to prevent heart disease. Now many more are weighing the pros and cons of daily aspirin use in light of new studies finding that it also may reduce the risk of many cancers and stop the spread of tumors.
Six months ago Vanessa Brannan, a 31-year-old Seattle mother of two, learned she had colon cancer and Lynch syndrome, an inherited condition that increases risk of the disease and other cancers. Some of the best data on aspirin’s effectiveness against cancer has been found in patients like Mrs. Brannan. In one British study, patients with Lynch syndrome who took aspirin for two years cut their risk of colon cancer in half.
Yet doctors still don’t know how much aspirin these patients — or anyone else — should take. So Mrs. Brannan is taking 325 milligrams daily, though patients in the British study received nearly twice that amount. Her oncologist, though, recommended just an 81-milligram baby aspirin. “We kind of decided to split the difference and get as much aspirin into me as we can, knowing that higher amounts have been proven to work,” she said.
She is not the only cancer patient grappling with uncertainty. The science about daily aspirin and its effect on cancer is still in its infancy. In research studies, subjects have received doses ranging from 75 milligrams a day to 1,200 milligrams a day.
Now some scientists think low doses may work if they’re taken every day; American clinical trials of every-other-day aspirin had no effect on cancer rates at all.
Renewed interest in aspirin was set off by studies by researchers at Oxford, published last week in The Lancet, that found that after just three years of daily aspirin use, the risk of developing cancer was reduced by almost 25 percent when compared with a control group not taking aspirin.
Over six and a half years on average, daily aspirin reduced the risk of metastatic cancer by 36 percent and the risk of adenocarcinomas — common solid cancers including colon and prostate cancer — by 46 percent.
The studies found large reductions in colon and esophageal cancers, and hinted at benefits for the prevention of breast, uterine, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and lung cancer in smokers. The mechanism is believed to be aspirin’s suppression of inflammation, which is believed to play a role in cancer, and its inhibition of COX-2, an enzyme that helps tumors grow.
Critics say the new analyses may not be reliable because they are based on data from studies that were designed to assess aspirin’s effect on vascular disease, not cancer.
“The data with regard to breast cancer is interesting, but it is not actionable — period,” said Dr. Clifford A. Hudis, chief of the breast cancer medicine service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterinNew York City.
But he does not dismiss aspirin altogether, saying it may help a specific subgroup of people at high risk for breast cancer because of changes related to obesityand inflammation. “That is far different than saying everybody should take it,” he said.
Public health experts worry about widespread use of aspirin, because the drug increases the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, ulcers and hemorrhagic strokes that can be fatal. An analysis in Archives of Internal Medicine in January found that for every 162 people who took aspirin, the drug prevented one nonfatal heart attack but caused about two serious bleeding episodes.
Aspirin may be a household staple, but it is also a potentially toxic drug, said Dr. Khosrow Kashfi, an associate medical professor at the City College of New York, who is working to develop a safer but more potent form of aspirin. “If you are telling healthy people that they should take a drug for a long period of time, for years — at what dose we don’t even know, but for a long time — then safety becomes of paramount importance,” he said.
It may be necessary to treat as many as 2,000 patients with daily aspirin to prevent a single case of colon cancer a year, said Dr. Alfred Neugut, a professor of cancer research, medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University. “The question is: what does aspirin do on a daily basis to 2,000 people?” If 20 or more of those patients suffer bleeding episodes, then taking aspirin to prevent cancer isn’t worthwhile, he added.
But if research were to uncover significant reductions in other common cancers, “you could start to argue, for general cancer prevention, the cumulative benefit may make it worthwhile.”
Other researchers are more enthusiastic about aspirin’s prospects as a cancer treatment.
“These studies may not be perfect, but do we say, ‘Wait, and we’ll do a 15-year study to answer this’?” said Dr. Scott Kopetz, who treats gastrointestinal cancers at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “Or do we say, ‘This is really good, compelling data, and we need to start taking this into consideration for the individual who may be at cancer risk’?”
So what’s a consumer to do? The best evidence on aspirin’s potential as a cancer preventive has been found in clinical trials of patients at increased risk for colon cancer because of a strong familial or personal history of colon cancer.
“In that case, the benefit of long-term aspirin is likely to outweigh the risks,” said Dr. Peter M. Rothwell, the Oxford professor who led the recent Lancet studies. Dr. Rothwell said research indicates that a low 75-milligram dose of aspirin a day mitigates risk, but he urged patients to seek individualized guidance from a physician.
Those who use blood thinners or have stomach ulcers, blood clot disorders, liver or kidney disease, uncontrolled blood pressure or risks for hemorrhagic stroke should not take aspirin, said Dr. Asad Umar, chief of the gastrointestinal cancers research group in the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Prevention.
If you already take aspirin, don’t stop suddenly without telling your physician. Don’t take it on an empty stomach, and avoid alcohol and other anti-inflammatory drugs.

Risks: Sugary Drinks Linked to Heart Disease

A man who drinks one 12-ounce sugar-sweetened drink a day sharply increases his risk for heart disease, according to a large epidemiological analysis.

Researchers analyzed data from a prospective study of 42,883 male health professionals, ages 40 to 75. The men responded to diet questionnaires every four years, and more than 18,000 of them provided blood samples.

Over 22 years, 3,683 of the men had heart attacks. Even after controlling for factors like smoking, exercise and family history, the scientists found that men who drank the sweetened beverages most often were 20 percent more likely to have had a heart attack than those who drank the least.

They calculated that one serving daily of a sugar-sweetened beverage was linked to a 19 percent increase in the relative risk of cardiovascular disease. The study was published online in the journal Circulation last week.

Sugar-sweetened drinks were linked with adverse changes in levels of HDL, triglycerides and C-reactive protein. Dr. Frank B. Hu, senior author of the analysis and a professor of medicine at Harvard, said that a study a little over two years ago found similar results in women.

Is diet soda a good alternative? No, said Dr. Hu.

“Some studies have found a relationship between diet soda and metabolic disease,” he said.

Foods good for you...

Vitamin C : Strawberries, lime, sweet lime, oranges, guavas, radish leaves, Fenugreek leaves, coriander, cabbage, capsicum, green chillies, cauliflower, bitter gourd, and sprouts.

Vitamin E: Corn, vegetable oils, nuts, spinach, olives and wheat germ.

Vitamin A: Fish liver oil, eggs, butter, cheese and fortified milk. B carotene, which is a precursor to vitamin A, is found in deep yellow fruits and vegetables and dark green leafy vegetables.

Vitamin B: Brewer's yeast, used to make bread or any food or beverage made with brewer's yeast. A diet that includes fruits, vegetables and grain products should be sufficient to get the required amounts of vitamin B.

Selenium: Whole grain cereals, seafood, garlic and eggs.

Zinc: Oysters, lean meat, and poultry. Also, whole grains, nuts and legumes. Although these vegetarian foods are good sources, availability of zinc is lower in these foods due to the phytic acid content. Sprouted grains and pulses destroy phytates. A vegetarian diet often contains less zinc than non-vegetarian diet. Therefore, vegetarians should consume plenty of foods that are rich in this mineral.

Essential fatty acids: Omega-3 and omega-6. Though we get plenty of omega 6 from grains and oils, our body is often deficient in omega-3. Omega-3 is found in oily fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, tuna and sardine, flaxseeds and nuts like almonds and walnuts.

One should have lots of fruits and vegetables with bright colors, such as dark, leafy lettuce, blueberries and oranges, as they give your skin essential vitamins C and E. Carrots, spinach and mangoes and papaya are a yummy way to look good as they are rich in vitamin A."

Experts say 'You are what you eat' - from the countless hair on your head to the nails on your toes. Your outer appearance, without the make-up, of course, reflects your inner state of health, which in turn reflects your lifestyle.  but  GREEN TEA and mint  leaves  tea is  essential for  stomach and  skin and  heart   also fenugreek tea  but you have to add sugar

drinking too much water can actually cause a critical loss of vitamins and minerals as they get whooshed out of the body with every trip to the bathroom. When you start 'eating' water, you don't need to count your glasses. You can replace at least one glass of water a day with one serving of raw fruits or vegetables and you will be able to stay hydrated significantly longer. Moreover, you'll get the added boost of fiber, antioxidants and other health-promoting phytonutrients. In fact, by sticking to a healthy diet, you'll end up 'eating' most of the water needed each day to stay hydrated.

Hydrating foods to eat every day

so eat  yoghurt , veg soups ,  tea coffee , milk , dal   with each  food intake

10 easy ways to keep your mind fit forever

Alzheimer's isn't inevitable. Many experts now believe you can prevent or at least delay dementia — even if you have a genetic predisposition. Reducing Alzheimer's risk factors like obesity, diabetes, smoking and low physical activity by just 25 percent could prevent up to half a million cases of the disease in the United States, according to a recent analysis from the University of California in San Francisco.

Regular exercise can keep your brain young. — Illustration by R. Kikuo Johnson

Here are 10 new ways you can boost your brain health now.
1) Get moving
"If you do only one thing to keep your brain young, exercise," says Art Kramer, professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Illinois. Higher exercise levels can reduce dementia risk by 30 to 40 percent compared with low activity levels, and physically active people tend to maintain better cognition and memory than inactive people. "They also have substantially lower rates of different forms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease," Kramer says.
Working out helps your hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in memory formation. As you age, your hippocampus shrinks, leading to memory loss. Exercise can reverse this process, research suggests.

How you work up a sweat is up to you, but most experts recommend 150 minutes a week of moderate activity. Even a little bit can help: "In our research as little as 15 minutes of regular exercise three times per week helped maintain the brain," says Eric B. Larson, M.D., executive director of Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
 2) Pump some iron 
Older women who participated in a yearlong weight-training program at the University of British Columbia at Vancouver did 13 percent better on tests of cognitive function than a group of women who did balance and toning exercises. "Resistance training may increase the levels of growth factors in the brain such as IGF1, which nourish and protect nerve cells," says Teresa Liu-Ambrose, head of the university's Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory.
 3) Seek out new skills
Learning spurs the growth of new brain cells. "When you challenge the brain, you increase the number of brain cells and the number of connections between those cells," says Keith L. Black, M.D., chair of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "But it's not enough to do the things you routinely do — like the daily crossword. You have to learn new things, like sudoku or a new form of bridge."
UCLA researchers using MRI scans found that middle-aged and older adults with little Internet experience could trigger brain centers that control decision-making and complex reasoning after a week of surfing the net. "Engaging the mind can help older brains maintain healthy functioning," says Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D., author of 30 Days to Total Brain Health.

4) Say "Omm"
Chronic stress floods your brain with cortisol, which leads to impaired memory. To better understand if easing tension changes your brain, Harvard researchers studied men and women trained in a technique called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). This form of meditation — which involves focusing one's attention on sensations, feelings and state of mind — has been shown to reduce harmful stress hormones. After eight weeks, researchers took MRI scans of participants' brains that showed the density of gray matter in the hippocampus increased significantly in the MBSR group, compared with a control group.

5) Eat like a Greek
A heart-friendly Mediterranean diet — fish, vegetables, fruit, nuts and beans —  reduced Alzheimer's risk by 34 to 48 percent in studies conducted by Columbia University.
"We know that omega-3 fatty acids in fish are very important for maintaining heart health," says Keith Black of Cedars-Sinai. "We suspect these fats may be equally important for maintaining a healthy brain."
Data from several large studies suggest that older people who eat the most fruits and vegetables, especially the leafy-green variety, may experience a slower rate of cognitive decline and a lower risk for dementia than meat lovers.
And it may not matter if you get your produce from a bottle instead of a bin. A study from Vanderbilt University found that people who downed three or more servings of fruit or vegetable juice a week had a 76 percent lower risk for developing Alzheimer's disease than those who drank less than a serving weekly.
6) Spice it up
Your brain enjoys spices as much as your taste buds do. Herbs and spices such as black pepper, cinnamon, oregano, basil, parsley, ginger and vanilla are high in antioxidants, which may help build brainpower. Scientists are particularly intrigued by curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, common in Indian curries. "Indians have lower incidence of Alzheimer's, and one theory is it's the curcumin," says Black. "It bonds to amyloid plaques that accumulate in the brains of people with the disease." Animal research shows curcumin reduces amyloid plaques and lowers inflammation levels. A study in humans also found those who ate curried foods frequently had higher scores on standard cognition tests.
7) Find your purpose
Discovering your mission in life can help you stay sharp, according to a Rush University Medical Center study of more than 950 older adults. Participants who approached life with clear intentions and goals at the start of the study were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease over the following seven years, researchers found.

8) Get a (social) life
Who needs friends? You do! Having multiple social networks helps lower dementia risk, a 15-year study of older people from Sweden's Karolinska Institute shows. A rich social life may protect against dementia by providing emotional and mental stimulation, says Laura Fratiglioni, M.D., director of the institute's Aging Research Center. Other studies yield similar conclusions: Subjects in a University of Michigan study did better on tests of short-term memory after just 10 minutes of conversation with another person.
9) Reduce your risks
Chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity and hypertension are often associated with dementia. Diabetes, for example, roughly doubles the risk for Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. Controlling these risk factors can slow the tide.
"We've estimated that in people with mild cognitive impairment — an intermediate state between normal cognitive aging and dementia — good control of diabetes can delay the onset of dementia by several years," says Fratiglioni. That means following doctor's orders regarding diet and exercise and taking prescribed medications on schedule.
10) Check vitamin deficiencies
Older adults don't always get all the nutrients they need from foods, because of declines in digestive acids or because their medications interfere with absorption. That vitamin deficit — particularly vitamin B12 — can also affect brain vitality, research from Rush University Medical Center shows. Older adults at risk of vitamin B12 deficiencies had smaller brains and scored lowest on tests measuring thinking, reasoning and memory, researchers found.

Tips for Healthy Children and Families

Eating Better

For Children and Families

• Start the day with a healthy breakfast. It refuels your body and gives you energy for the day.
• Let kids help plan one meal each week and eat together as often as possible.
• Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for your brain to register that you are full.
• Eat more vegetables and fresh fruits. Aim for a total of 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables every day.
• Eat more whole grains (e.g., oats, brown rice, rye, crackers, whole-wheat pasta). Try to eat at least 3 ounces of whole grains every day.
• Drink plenty of fluids. Choose water, low-fat or nonfat milk and low calorie or diet beverages.
• Serve a variety of foods.

For Parents

• Reward children with praise rather than with food.
• Serve food in smaller portions. Do not demand or reward “a clean plate.” Let your child ask for more if he or she is still hungry.
• Read nutrition labels for serving size and calorie information. The information on the labels can help you select foods that best fit into your family’s meal and snack plans.
• Bake, broil or grill foods to reduce fat. Rather than cooking with butter or vegetable oil, try healthier versions like olive, canola or sunflower oil.
• Snacks should provide nutrients and energy, which are essential for active, growing children.
• Do not give your child vitamin supplements unless they are recommended by your doctor.
• Children imitate their parents, so set a good example by eating healthy foods.
• Keep a variety of snacks in the house, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, whole-grain cereals and crackers. Try lower calorie or lower fat foods, like baked chips, reduced-sugar cereals or low-fat dressings.

Being More Active

For Children and Families

• Move more. Try to get between 30 and 60 minutes of physical activity every day. Several 10 to 15 minute sessions of moderate activity each day add up.
• Include regular physical activity into your daily routine. Walk as a family before or after meals.
• Limit TV, computer and video game time to a total of one to two hours per day. Encourage physical activity instead.
• Balance energy calories with activity calories. The energy you get from foods and beverages should equal the calories you burn in activity every day. Read our handout on daily calorie needs for more information.
• Increase household activities (e.g., walking the dog, dusting, vacuuming, gardening). These activities are good ways to burn calories.
• Include an activity like hiking or bike riding when you go on vacation.
• Make playtime with your family more active by shooting hoops or walking to the park.

For Parents

• Move more. Walking is an easy way to be more active every day.
• Park the car in a spot farther away from the store or your office and walk.
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Get off the bus one stop earlier and walk the rest of the way.
• Use an exercise machine or lift weights while watching television.
• Walk to do errands.
• Be a role model for your children. Do something active every day.

How Active Are You?

Moderate Physical Activity	Vigorous Activity	More Vigorous Activity
Walking	Jogging	Running
Treading water	Swimming laps (light effort)	Swimming laps (vigorous effort)
Bicycling (10 mph)	Bicycling (12 mph)	Bicycling (more than 14 mph)
Dancing	Low impact aerobics	Step aerobics
Doing yard work/gardening	Mowing lawn with hand mower	Digging a ditch
Hiking	Playing doubles tennis	Playing singles tennis
Vacuuming	Moving furniture	Playing basketball or soccer
Playing with children	Weight lifting	In-line skating

Healthy Habits for Life

• Write down what you eat: how much, when and why. For example, what do you eat when you're stressed out? Learn more about keeping a food diary here.
• Record your physical activity: how long, how often and how hard do you work out?
• Eat only at the kitchen table. Don't drive, watch television or talk on the phone while you eat. This helps you focus on how much you are eating, which can prevent overeating.
• Put out your exercise clothes the night before as a reminder to walk or work out in the morning.
• Set goals you can achieve. For example, aim for eating more vegetables and fewer high-calorie foods.
• Don't "up size" your favorite drink – 32 oz. of regular soda has up to 400 calories! Choose water or a diet drink instead.
• Eat only until you're not hungry and push the plate away. Don't stuff yourself.
• Eat only because you're hungry, not because you're bored, tired or stressed. Use alternatives to eating when you're not hungry: take a walk, play a game, read a book or call a friend.
• Do your grocery shopping on a full stomach. This will help you make healthier food choices, rather than grabbing over-processed high-calorie foods, which can be hard to resist when your stomach is empty.

Healthy Brain (and Body)

The 6 basic factors that will ensure a healthy brain (and body) well into old age are:
1. Healthy Diet: Eat more nutritious foods and limit the junk.
2. Physical Activity: Move your body for at least 20 minutes most days.
3. Challenge: Habitually nudge yourself out of your comfort zone.
4. Novelty: Enrich your brain by exposing yourself to new things daily.
5. Laughter: Be playful and have fun everyday.
6. Human Love: Maintain intimate close-knit human bonds

Seeks Better Test Scores Through Placebos at a Florida School

The PowerBar handed out to students at the Hagen Road Elementary School in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Want a “special brain snack” to boost your test scores? Typically, performance enhancers would be frowned on by school authorities, but in one Florida elementary school, administrators are handing out “FCAT power bars” to improve students scores on the state’s dreaded standardized tests.
According to the Sun-Sentinel, the power bar is really just an apple-flavored cereal bar with the label “Warning: Improves Writing Power!” The bars are being distributed at a primary school near Boynton Beach on Florida’s East Coast ahead of the writing portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, and parents have received handouts telling them to inform their children about how the snacks will help.
The Sun-Sentinel‘s Marc Freeman writes:

Administrators at Hagen Road Elementary want kids to think eating an “FCAT power bar” will guarantee great results on the exams — starting Tuesday — in the same way the “placebo effect” allows medical patients to swallow sugar pills as fake treatments to spark healing.

It’s not so outlandish as it sounds. The placebo effect remains mysterious but real: for example, people given placebo and told that it is morphine experience stronger pain relief than those given the same pill labeled as aspirin. Red placebos are more effective as stimulants, while blue pills are more effective as sedatives. One study found that even when patients were only implicitly told they were getting placebo, they still did better than those who got no treatment. Placebos can also have side effects and, like real drugs, they can sometimes make conditions worse.
But could “power bars” actually improve test scores? Simply eating breakfast has been shown to help student performance, so they might work for children who skipped their morning meal. And since the placebo may improve confidence and reduce anxiety, it might also spur genuine improvements that way.
Let’s give the school a bit of credit. Rather than yielding to fears of being attacked as sending a “pro-drug” message, they’re packaging breakfast with a bit of subversive humor and respecting their students’ ability to recognize a silly warning. Now, if they give unlabeled and unheralded bars to a control group, they might have themselves a nice little experiment, which could teach these kids and the rest of us a bit more about the science of placebos.