Healthy Tips from HealthyLife

Beth Cooney offers tips to keep you healthy
About Beth Cooney

Archive for September, 2012

Pass the Pepper! It’s Good For You

Thursday, September 27, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

Pass the pepper please! A new study has some spicy good news. One of black pepper’s micro-nutrient ingredients may play a role in halting the formation of fat cells.

The research, recently published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, reveals that piperine, the pungent substance that gives black pepper its characteristic bite, can also be a fat-fighter. Korean university scientists, intrigued by black pepper’s long association as an anti-inflammatory ingredient sometimes used to treat intestinal disorders in Eastern medicine, set out to investigate the potential potency of piperine on a molecular level.

Their laboratory studies and computer models noted that piperine interferes with the genetic activity that leads to the formation of new fat cells. In doing so, the researchers suggested that piperine may set off a metabolic chain reaction that keeps fat in check.

But before you give a few extra twists to the pepper mill at dinner, keep in mind that the research probably needs more specific investigation and study to see how potent the spice really is. The researchers noted the findings could lead to additional research on the use of piperine in efforts to treat obesity and promote weight loss.

What Lies Beneath: The Hazards of PVCs in Flooring

Tuesday, September 25, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

If you’re planning on installing new flooring this fall, you may want to pay close attention to the materials you choose, especially if young ones are crawling on the premises.

Swedish researchers have established a correlation between flooring materials containing PVCs and the absorption of potentially dangerous aromatic chemicals known as phthalates in children’s bodies. Some of these substances are already banned from toys because of their association with asthma, allergies and other chronic diseases in children.

Because they are not part of a chain of chemicals (polymers), phthalates can be released fairly easily from products, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry. They are sometimes found in common everyday items such as toothbrushes, auto parts, tools and food packaging.

Curious about the effect phthalates in building materials might have on children, Swedish researchers studied the urine of 83 infants ages 2 to 6 months. They found phthalate levels were high in the group of babies that had PVC flooring in their rooms. Interestingly, they also found phthalate levels were lowest in the children who were exclusively breast-fed. (Researchers did not provide a detailed public explanation of why they thought breast-fed babies may be more protected.)

“With this study as a basis, we can establish that there are other sources that should be taken into consideration in regard to the uptake of banned chemicals,” study leader Carl-Gustaf Bornehag said in a Swedish Research Council news release.

Fit For Life: How Aerobic Excercise Can Help Breast Cancer Patients

Monday, September 24, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

It seems like the evidence for exercise doing good things for a woman’s body just keeps getting stronger. And now there’s a lifesaving clinical reason to fit some cardio into your week. Duke University researchers have made an intriguing correlation between fitness levels and a woman’s chances of surviving breast cancer.

Among patients with advanced breast cancer, women with higher cardiopulmonary function survived “significantly longer” than women with low fitness levels. The women in the Duke study with the highest fitness levels lived 36 months compared to 16 months for their “low fitness” counterparts.

The researchers were interested in cardiopulmonary fitness levels in their patients because prior studies suggest that, in general, the lung and heart function of breast cancer patients and survivors is significantly lower than their non-afflicted counterparts. It’s believed that chemotherapy drugs and cancer treatment — while often critically lifesaving — can impair a woman’s cardiopulmonary function for years after treatment, with many women never returning to levels comparable to even their sedentary peers.

“Fitness level may be an important biomarker of survival among cancer patients,” reports Lee Jones, Ph.D., an associate professor at Duke University and the study’s lead author. He says the research also suggests that exercise may be an important intervention for cancer patients during and after treatment.

Kernels of Healthy Wisdom

Thursday, September 20, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

Turns out popcorn’s reputation as a healthy snack food is based on more than a kernel of truth. Researchers have discovered that the air-popped version is loaded with good-for-you antioxidants known as polyphenols.

Researchers who presented their findings to the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting this spring contend that the popular snack food pops up with more antioxidants than fruits and vegetables. The level of popcorn’s polyphenols rivaled those in nuts and was 15 times more concentrated than those found in whole-grain tortilla chips. Researcher Joe Vinson, Ph.D., whose pioneering work has played a role in analyzing the healthful components of chocolate, nuts and other common foods, explains that polyphenols are more concentrated in popcorn, which averages only about 4 percent water content.

In another interesting finding, the researchers discovered that those pesky popcorn hulls, which people find annoying because of their tendency to get caught in the teeth, are the source of much of popcorn’s nutritional bulk. They contain the most polyphenols and the fiber that makes popcorn a superior whole-grain snack. “Those hulls deserve more respect,” says Vinson, who is affiliated with the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. “They are nutritional gold nuggets.”

Still, Vinson cautioned that how popcorn is prepared can ultimately determine whether it is a true nutritional friend or foe. Cook it in a slick of oil, drench it in salt and butter or sugar (kettle corn style) and you could end up with a bowl full of fat and calorie-laden trouble.

Fast Friends: Why Kinetic Friends Are Good For Our Kids

Wednesday, September 19, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

In what amounts to a positive form of fitness peer pressure, researchers have found that kids are moved — quite literally — by what’s going on around them. A small study suggests that your kids will sit around if their friends do and, conversely, the more their friends are active, the more likely they are to get up and move.

Vanderbilt University researchers studied the physical activity levels of a group of racially diverse kids enrolled in an afterschool program. Their conclusion: Children don’t necessarily form friendships based on their peers’ physical activity, but their existing friendships heavily influenced how much they moved. Indeed, the researchers say, the strongest influence on how much time the kids spent in moderate to heavy physical activity was based on the actions of their friends. Gender seemed to play no role in this result, noted the researchers who reported their findings in the journal Pediatrics.

The researchers suggest their findings could be used to spur specific interventions in settings such as schools and daycare-type programs, where encouraging kids to exercise with their friends may produce healthy habits and positive outcomes. Parents may want to interpret these findings as a call to find ways to pair up more sedentary children with their most active friends for more kinetic play dates.

Move on over to http://tinyurl.com/sept12kids for the full report.

Like Fido, Like Self

Tuesday, September 18, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

In an intriguing new study that suggests there’s really something to the popular notion that dogs reflect the personalities of their owners, researchers have found that surly people tend to favor aggressive pooches as pets.

While researchers stressed that their findings were not associated with delinquency or violence, they found that younger, less-agreeable types tended to have more of a desire to own dog breeds perceived as aggressive (such as pit bulls). The study, published in the June issue of Anthrozoos, was based on the results of a survey in which respondents rated several breeds of dogs as potential pets. Respondents who were identified through an assessment of character traits as being the least likely to care about the feelings of others were most likely to favor aggressive pets.

In good news, researchers found that besides surliness, pet owners who identified most strongly with aggressive breeds also tended to rate high in traits such as conscientiousness and responsibility. So maybe, while grumpy, these owners are more likely to make sure a high-strung pet stays on a tight leash.

Still curious? Go to http://tinyurl.com/sept12dogs.

(The Pleasant) Scent of a Senior

Thursday, September 13, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

For every child who’s ever embarrassed their parents by complaining that Grandma Betty or Uncle Joe, well, stink, comes the peer-reviewed explanation for their bad manners: Seniors really do have a certain odor. But it turns out that odor isn’t as bad as some whiny kids may claim.

Researchers with the Philadelphia-based Monell Chemical Senses Center have determined that it’s possible to sniff out old age. In the new study, 56 healthy people were broken up into three specific age categories, from their 20s to age 95, and asked to wear clean T-shirts and special underarm pads that soaked up body odor while they were sleeping.

The researchers then retrieved and stored those pads in glass jars and asked 41 young adult testers to smell the contents. The only group that the testers could identify as having a distinct odor was the pads that came from the seniors. Researchers noted their testers were not as successful distinguishing or categorizing the odors of younger and middle-age groups.

Interestingly, study participants identified the senior odors as pleasant, less intense and non-offensive, contradicting the unpleasant label often attributed to the elderly. Their findings suggest that body odor really does change throughout the life cycle.

The study appeared in the May issue of research journal PLoS ONE and begs an olfactory question for a slightly younger demographic: Is there such a thing as eau de middle-age mom or essence of seriously stinky teen?

Cad Knows Best? The Secret Behind the Weakness for Bad Boys

Tuesday, September 11, 2012 by:Beth Cooney
Comment
Comments
|
|

Got a weakness for bad boys? According to new research from the University of Texas at San Antonio, that could mean you’re in search of someone to father your children. Although it makes no rational or practical romantic sense, researchers have determined that when women are at their most fertile, they are most likely to think sexy cads make good dads. Lead researcher and UTSA Associate Marketing Professor Kristina Durante explains that her research shows that during the time of ovulation a surge of hormones actually influence women’s perceptions of potential sexual partners.

“Previous research has shown in the week near ovulation women become attracted to sexy, rebellious and handsome men like George Clooney or James Bond,” Durante says in a statement. “But until now it was unclear why women would ever think it’s wise to pursue long-term relationships with these kind of men.”

In two different research studies, Durante’s team in the UTSA College of Business asked women to rate the dating profiles of men deemed either sexy or reliable during times of low and high fertility. The ovulating crowd was more likely to perceive that bad boys were willing to play a role in traditional domestic parenting duties such as child-care, cooking and housekeeping.

In a related study, women interacted directly with actors who played the role of sexy cad or reliable dad, again during periods of high and low fertility. Here, the feminine ego as well as hormones seemed to play a role, with the female research subjects rating cads high as potential parents — as long as they were the chosen mate. The women were quick to point out the bad boy’s deficits when considering him as a potential mate for someone else.

The findings were recently reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Page 1 of 212