Health care

Archive for March, 2010

There’s more to Italian food than spaghetti and meatballs. As one of the world’s oldest and most influential cuisines, Italian fare has something to please every palate… and cardiovascular system. Check out these 7 delicious recipes from Italy…

Tortellini & Zucchini Soup
Tortellini makes a quick week night pasta dinner – but they also add substance that turns this quick, colorful vegetable soup into a meal. One caveat: Read the label carefully, and avoid pasta products made with hydrogenated oils or unnecessary preservatives. Enjoy this soup with a slice of multigrain baguette and a spinach salad.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
2 medium zucchini, diced
9 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh or frozen tortellini, preferably spinach and cheese
4 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Preparation
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots and onion; stir, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft and just beginning to brown, 6-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and rosemary, and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Stir in broth and zucchini; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add tortellini and tomatoes and simmer until the tortellini are plump and the tomatoes are beginning to break down, 6-10 minutes.

3. Stir vinegar into the hot soup just before serving.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving:
203 calories
8 g fat (2 g sat, 4 g mono)
10 mg cholesterol
28 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
4 g fiber
386 mg sodium
400 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: vitamin A (80% Daily Value), vitamin C (35% DV)

There’s more to Italian food than spaghetti and meatballs. As one of the world’s oldest and most influential cuisines, Italian fare has something to please every palate… and cardiovascular system. Check out these 7 delicious recipes from Italy…

Tortellini & Zucchini Soup
Tortellini makes a quick week night pasta dinner – but they also add substance that turns this quick, colorful vegetable soup into a meal. One caveat: Read the label carefully, and avoid pasta products made with hydrogenated oils or unnecessary preservatives. Enjoy this soup with a slice of multigrain baguette and a spinach salad.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 large carrots, finely chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 14-ounce cans vegetable broth
2 medium zucchini, diced
9 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh or frozen tortellini, preferably spinach and cheese
4 plum tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Preparation
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add carrots and onion; stir, cover and cook, stirring occasionally until the onion is soft and just beginning to brown, 6-7 minutes. Stir in garlic and rosemary, and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

2. Stir in broth and zucchini; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add tortellini and tomatoes and simmer until the tortellini are plump and the tomatoes are beginning to break down, 6-10 minutes.

3. Stir vinegar into the hot soup just before serving.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving:
203 calories
8 g fat (2 g sat, 4 g mono)
10 mg cholesterol
28 g carbohydrate
7 g protein
4 g fiber
386 mg sodium
400 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: vitamin A (80% Daily Value), vitamin C (35% DV)

By Jennifer Gruenemay, ACE-Certified, Special to Lifescript
If when Monday rolls around, you’re feeling fat, fatigued and grumpy, you know you’ve let yourself go during the weekend. Monday is notorious for being the toughest day of the week, especially if you’re trying to climb back on top of the weight-loss wagon, but there are strategies you can use to get yourself off to a better start. The first thing you can stop doing is using the weekend as an excuse to let loose and ditch all your good eating and exercising habits. In fact, your weekend is a key time to get in that hour-long hike you just can’t find the time to do during your busy work-week.

Second, plan ahead for the week in front of you – meals, that is. Do your major shopping on the weekend and buy all the fresh produce you need to stock up for the entire week. Take time on Sunday afternoon to make a big green salad or crock of soup that you can eat from all week long. Wash and cut up various fruits and vegetables you can pre-bag for lunches and snacks during the week so you’re not tempted to turn to the vending machine at work for an afternoon pick-me-up.

Last, gear up for the week ahead and a productive Monday by taking “you” time on the weekends. Don’t over-schedule yourself and commit to too many events. Take time to sit and read by the fire, draw a bubble bath and just relax, or strike a few yoga poses on your patio. With these three tips, you can start your Monday refreshed, renewed and relaxed with the energy to not only get through the week ahead but to take it by storm.

Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on the latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

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By Bonnie Siegler, Special to Lifescript

Reality TV star, tabloid target, cover girl – Kim Kardashian is everywhere these days. But what’s she really like? In this Lifescript exclusive, Kardashian talks about the pressures of being in the spotlight, how she stays sane and her workout secrets…

It’s not even noon yet, and Kim Kardashian has already taped TV spots on “Live with Regis & Kelly,” the “Today” show and CNN. Tonight she’ll strut a fashion runway in support of women’s heart health. Then she flies to Las Vegas for a special event.

Why so in demand? Kardashian has become something of a cottage industry, thanks to her hit E! series, “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” The show follows the lives of the Kardashian clan, including Kim, mom Kris, sisters Kourtney and Khloe (29, 30 and 25, respectively) and their stepdad, Olympic decathlete Bruce Jenner.

While all the sisters quickly became tabloid fodder, Kim saw her pre-show popularity skyrocket, with increased interest in her curves, style and love life.

It’s hectic, but Kardashian is enjoying every minute.

“I do work a lot, and some people might think that puts a lot of stress on me, but not a lot of things stress me out,” Kardashian says. “I definitely take time off when I need it, so it’s really all about just making sure you take care of yourself.”

The Cellulite Controversy
For Kardashian, that includes not paying attention to the tabloids, particularly their fixation on her famous curves.

“I don’t take it in a negative way,” she says. “I think it’s flattering – it could be worse.”

That attitude helped Kardashian last year, when an unretouched photo of her cellulite thighs hit the Internet. She met the criticism head on, posting the photo on her Web site alongside the photoshopped, cellulite-free version.

“I’m thankful women can relate to me, and I’m not afraid to say I’m not perfect – that I have cellulite,” she says. “Would I prefer not to have cellulite? Sure! Nobody wants it. But I’m proud of my body.”

By Jorge Cruise, Chief Diet and Fitness Expert
In order to nurture a fabulously fit body, you must accept and respect your body right now – not once you lose the weight. Many people falsely believe they will love their bodies once they shed excess pounds. That’s simply not true. I know this because some of the most tortured people I’ve ever met have also been some of the thinnest. Ask just about any person from a size 6 to a size 26 about their bodies, and most will tell you they really need to lose a few pounds. They’ll call their bodies nasty names they wouldn’t call their worst enemies.

So, if you think a smaller body size will automatically result in body acceptance, you’ve put the cart before the horse. In fact, the opposite is true: Body acceptance will result in a smaller body size – not the other way around. Once you learn to accept and respect your body, you will instantly treat it differently.

Your coach,
Jorge Cruise

For information on Jorge’s fitness program and to get a free copy of his Belly Fat Cure Report, visit jorgecruise.com.

Got a question? Ask Jorge Cruise

Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on the latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

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By John H. Sklare, Ed.D, Lifescript Personal Coach
As you may recall, “Back to the Future” was a funny science-fiction film about time travel, starring Michael J. Fox, released in 1985. Thinking about the premise of this wonderful classic brought to mind the following question.

If you could go 20 years into the future and have a serious conversation with a 20-year-older YOU, what advice might that future YOU give the present-day YOU? I know it’s difficult to project how you’ll be a couple of decades down the road, but what advice do you think a wiser, more mature YOU would say to help the current YOU create a better life down the road? Give this some serious thought because your future is yet to be decided and it’s intimately tied to what you do today.

Wishing You Great Health,
Dr. John H. Sklare
www.innerdiet.com

Are you dating the wrong person? Got an unhealthy addiction? Need motivational advice? Email your question! Ask Dr. Sklare

Relationship troubles? Ask Dr. V

Need fitness advice? Ask Jorge Cruise

Got a diet dilemma? Ask Joel Marion

What’s in your stars? Ask the Saturn Sisters

Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

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By Dorothy Foltz-Gray, Special to Lifescript

Just getting out of bed can seem impossible when you’re depressed. But simple steps, plus treatment, will get you going. Check out these 11 doctor-recommended tips to get you out of the dumps…

Some days, events go south: The grocery bag rips at the bottom. The cute guy doesn’t call you back. You’re PMSing. These down days usually disappear when the sun rises the next morning.

But when relentless stress, anxiety and disappointment pile up, spirits can take a nose dive – and stay there.

True depression, affecting almost 15 million Americans, is much more serious than the monthly bout of PMS. It drains your life and affects the way you sleep, eat and feel about yourself, family and pleasure.

Women get diagnosed with depression two times more often than men, according to the Mayo Clinic. Why?

For one thing, our hormones do a fluctuating rumba, especially during childbearing years. Then there’s the burden of so many responsibilities. You’re Mom, help mate, model worker, cleaning lady and errand runner. No wonder you’re down!

You can’t will depression away, but you don’t have to suffer, says Dennis Lin, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Medical and psychological treatment can help you get better.

While you’re on recovery road, you can take extra steps to boost your mood. Read on to get 11 doctor-recommended tips to chase away the blues:

The Do’s
1. Do a body check.
Some diseases, disorders – even drugs – can make you blue.

“Make sure you have no other medical problem, like a low level of thyroid hormones,” Lin says.

Depression is also linked with Parkinson’s disease, dementia, multiple sclerosis, heart disease and some infections. The stress of having a disease, like cancer, can trigger it too.

So can medications, such as steroids and those prescribed for high blood pressure.

By Julian Whitaker, M.D., Lifescript Alternative Medicine Expert
Now that spring is here, it’s time to check our progress on those New Year’s resolutions. If you’re having trouble sticking with your effort to lose weight – an absolute must if you have diabetes – I encourage you to try a new program we’re recommending to patients with type 2 diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome: a “mini-fast” coupled with exercise.

Here’s how it works: You get up in the morning and drink a glass of water or a cup of coffee or tea. You can use a little creamer or low-calorie sweetener like xylitol or stevia, and you can take your supplements if they don’t upset your stomach – but don’t eat breakfast or drink anything other than coffee, tea, or water.

Then put on your workout gear and get 20–45 minutes of moderate exercise. Walk briskly, jog, or cycle; use a treadmill, stair-stepper, mini-trampoline, or stationary bike; or take an aerobics class or work out with an exercise video at home. Afterward, get on with your day, but continue fasting until lunch. Then break your fast and eat normally for the rest of the day.

The exercise-enhanced mini-fast takes advantage of, and expands upon, the 10–12 hours you naturally fast while sleeping. By morning, your body is beginning to deplete the glycogen in your liver (from the carbohydrates you ate at your evening meal) and is starting to rely more on fat for energy. Aerobic exercise kicks this response into high gear.

The mini-fast was evaluated in a clinical trial published last year. The study involved volunteers with an average weight of 199 pounds, BMI of 32.2 (30 and over is considered obese), waist circumference of 42.6 inches, and fasting insulin of 13.2 IU/mL (a level indicative of insulin resistance). They were instructed in the particulars of the program – no food before noon but no other restrictions besides a healthful, low-fat, high-fiber diet, plus aerobic exercise while in the fasting state.

After 12 weeks, the volunteers lost an average of nine pounds and an even more impressive 16 pounds of fat (25%of their initial fat mass) plus three inches around the waist. Additionally, the group’s fasting insulin fell by one-quarter, into the normal range.

We like the mini-fast because eating sensibly for two meals a day requires far less discipline than cutting calories all day – and that makes sticking to the routine much easier over the long haul.

Yours in good health,
Dr. Whitaker

Want to learn more about diabetes control? Visit DrWhitaker.com.

Got a question for Dr. Whitaker?

Check out Health Bistro for more healthy food for thought. See what Lifescript editors are talking about and get the skinny on the latest news. Share it with your friends (it’s free to sign up!), and bookmark it so you don’t miss a single juicy post!

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By Suzy Cohen, R.Ph., Lifescript Pharmacist

Dear Readers,
I attended the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, Calif., to find healthy, delicious and unique products. Here are my favorite finds:

(Please note: I’m not a paid promoter for any of these products. I genuinely loved them!)

Artisana Raw Organic Coconut Butter: This 100% raw organic coconut is spreadable like peanut butter, yet there are no peanuts, pesticides, trans fats or artificial flavors! (www.premierorganics.org)

So Delicious Coconut Milk Kefir: This brand-new coconut kefir contains 10 live active cultures and lauric and capric acids, two substances that support immune function. Plus, it’s without soy, dairy, gluten or trans fats. (www.turtlemountain.com)

Toddler Health Rice Formula: This delicious rice-based “milk” is free of soy, dairy, gluten and GMO ingredients. If I had a child on formula, I’d definitely use this product! Hands down, it’s the tastiest milk alternative that I found at Expo. Adults can drink it straight, use it in protein shakes, or as a pediatric formula. (www.toddlerhealth.net)

Glutenfreeda’s Real Cookies: Most gluten-free cookies taste like dry socks, but these were drool-inspiring! I walked by their booth so often to graze on samples, that they became suspicious of me. They sell the cookies as pre-cut frozen cookie dough; you bake the cookies yourself. (www.glutenfreeda.com)

Larenim makeup: Mineral-based makeup that’s healthy! I love their palette of brilliant eye shadows and soothing foundations that are non-comedogenic, free of irritants, artificial colors and safe for people with acne or rosacea. (www.larenim.com)

Ginger People Ginger Soother: It’s delish if you like ginger; this natural non-carbonated beverage is great for anyone, and can soothe an upset stomach (like for example, if you find yourself running around an Expo sampling dozens of ‘treats’ an hour). (www.gingerpeople.com)

Teeccino Herbal Coffee: The “Tee-bag” is perfect for people who are on the go: You just open a packet, and enjoy delicious caffeine-free, gluten-free herbal coffee without having to percolate. It tastes better than regular coffee! (www.teeccino.com)

By Edward C. Geehr, M.D., Lifescript Chief Medical Officer

Are you experiencing any of the following: a feeling of fullness or discomfort in the abdominal or pelvic area; feeling full quickly; gas or bloating; painful intercourse; or the need to urinate more urgently or frequently? If so, don’t overlook these symptoms. You could have ovarian cancer.

The disease is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women; about 21,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year. More than 15,000 women will die of ovarian cancer, largely because the cancer grows unnoticed. It has a dismal 47% survival rate. Those early symptoms are common among women, so they’re often overlooked.

Unfortunately, only about 20% of cases will be diagnosed early, and many of those are inadvertent findings on pelvic exam or from an imaging study. And timeliness of diagnosis makes a big difference. Those with an early diagnosis have a 95% five-year survival rate. However, those who are diagnosed after the tumor has grown beyond the ovary have a 20% or lower chance of surviving five years.

Current screening techniques are inadequate. Gynecologists can take a detailed history, do a pelvic exam, and ultrasound (including abdominal, vaginal and an ultrasound technique called color flow Doppler imaging), and take blood to screen for tumor markers. When a test is abnormal, other more invasive tests, such as a biopsy of suspicious lesions or surgery, help confirm the diagnosis.

But the sensitivity of such screening techniques is low. Even an experienced clinician performing a pelvic exam can miss an ovarian mass because of the organs’ awkward position on each side of the upper end of the uterus and tense abdominal muscles.

Of the ultrasound tests, a vaginal ultrasound is more sensitive than an abdominal one. For example, abdominal ultrasounds of 100,000 women older than age 45 might detect only 40 cases of ovarian cancer, but yield 5,398 false positives. The false readings might lead to more than 160 complications from the laparoscopic surgery (surgery that inserts lighted instruments through small incisions) needed to confirm the abnormal test results.

The color flow Doppler ultrasound, coupled with vaginal ultrasound, improves the precision, helping the doctor to distinguish between benign and malignant tumors. Even then, the technique may yield false positives and the combination is expensive, time-consuming and impractical.

Currently, ovarian cancer screening is expensive because of the low prevalence of the disease, the high rate of false-positives that lead to needless surgery and the high costs of the tests and continuing follow-up.

However, a new ovarian cancer test has just been introduced that may contribute to more accurate detection of ovarian cancers. Called the OVA1, the test helps distinguish benign growths from cancerous tumors. It has been shown to correctly identify 92% of cancers when used along with radiological imaging (such as ultrasound) and standard patients work-ups. This compares to only 72% accuracy when employing usual detection methods.

The $650 blood test measures five proteins that increase or decrease in your blood if you have ovarian cancer. One of those, so-called CA125, was previously approved as a marker to detect response to cancer treatment (you want to see the CA125 levels go down and stay down). However, CA125 could not itself accurately detect the presence of ovarian cancer. But when combined with four other markers, its predictive power increases.

Unfortunately, the test doesn’t help diagnose the tumor earlier. The mass must still be conventionally detected. But it can help to get the patient to the correct specialist sooner and may save a second surgery. Right now, if a suspicious mass is detected, the patient would typically undergo general anesthesia for obtaining a biopsy of the mass. If the cancer is detected, the woman would have to undergo a second, more extensive procedure a few days later under general anesthesia to remove the mass and surrounding lymph nodes. A more certain diagnosis could help eliminate the first surgery.

See All House Calls by Dr. Geehr.