Encouraging Health

If a nagging cough is keeping you awake, and cough syrup doesn’t help, there’s something in your kitchen cupboard that might: honey.

It’s been a favored home remedy for sore throats for decades, and now new research shows it’s more than wishful thinking. It really can silence nighttime hacking.

A Little Does a Lot
It may not take much honey to do the trick. In a study of kids, a small dose of buckwheat honey — 1/2 to 2 teaspoons, depending on age — was enough. (Caution: Never give honey to a child who’s not yet a year old, because there’s a risk of botulism.) And many doctors recommend a bit of honey for adult patients, too. Try it with tea and lemon for extra throat lubrication. Bonus: Honey is a great source of antioxidants.

It Might Help Sinuses, Too
Scientists have only just begun to tap into honey’s medical uses. Early research shows it may have a strong antibacterial edge and might fight sinus infections, too. Research is ongoing. In the meantime, if you’re suffering from sinus issues, try these self-care tips:
Flush ’em. Nasal irrigation will both reduce nasal symptoms and boost bacterial resistance. Try a neti pot.

Drink up. Staying hydrated helps keep your sinuses moist and less susceptible to infection.

Protect ’em. From smoke, dust, allergens, and any other nasal irritants — until your sinuses feel better.

A Honey of a Source of Antioxidants

If you’re looking for the best choice, consider darker-colored “honeydew” varieties from bees who collect the sugary secretions that insects leave on plants, otherwise known as honeydew.

According to a new study of Spanish varieties, honeydew honey has even higher levels of disease-fighting antioxidants than the honey that bees make from nectar.

But all honey, regardless of its origins, is good for you, the experts said.

“Besides its value as a great sweetening agent, honey has proved that it also has effective antioxidant and antibacterial activities,” said study co-author Rosa Ana Perez, a researcher with the Instituto Madrileno de Investigacion y Desarrollo Rural, Agrario y Alimentario in Madrid.

In recent years, honey has gained a reputation as a health food, especially in light of research suggesting that it has germ-fighting powers and is high in antioxidants, chemicals that appear to block certain types of cell damage caused by molecules called free radicals.

“There is increasing evidence that free radicals contribute to the development of diseases, such as neurodegenerative disease, chronic inflammatory disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and aging,” Perez said.

In 2004, U.S. researchers found that antioxidant levels rose in people who ate between four and 10 tablespoons of honey per day, depending on their weight. It wasn’t clear at the time, however, which varieties of honey might harbor the most antioxidants.

In the new study, researchers looked at 36 varieties of Spanish honey in two groups — clover honey, made by bees from the nectar of flower blossoms, and honeydew honey, made by bees from a sweet, sticky substance secreted by insects such as aphids that live off plants.

Some of us just can’t live without our morning coffee fix. And some of us may be feeling a little guilty about that.

Not to worry. Your morning cup of joe could actually be helping you live longer. A recent study has linked coffee drinking to a reduced risk of death, regardless of the cause.

Healthy or Not, Here I Come!
Over the years, research has produced mixed results on the health benefits of coffee. But a recent study was a win for the earthy brew. Heavy java drinkers (2 or more cups per day) experienced a modest decrease in all-cause mortality, including death from heart disease. We can probably credit the antioxidant-rich beans used to brew the stuff. In fact, Americans drink so much coffee that it’s one of our top sources of antioxidants.

Reality Check
So what are the caveats for coffee drinking? There are only a few. If you are sensitive to caffeine, you don’t need to be told not to be a java junkie. And unfiltered coffee can raise blood fats, so use paper filters and ditch the French press. Although it remains to be seen if coffee has a long-term impact on blood pressure, we know it can cause a temporary spike, so go easy if you have high blood pressure. And — as always — do everything in moderation. A pot-a-day habit probably doesn’t do anyone any favors.

Coffee Graduates to Health Food Status

Your favorite morning brew has a surprising new perk.

Good news for the 80 percent of Americans who down an average of 3.2 cups of java a day: Your liver loves it. And because the liver is your body’s vital detox center, that’s a big health plus. It’s not the caffeine. Apparently, it’s the antioxidants or other compounds in coffee that keep your liver humming. So if you were just thinking you could do with a cup of joe, go for it.

The liver is a major multitasker. It’s a housekeeper: It filters toxins from the blood, cleaning pollutants, alcohol, useless residues, nicotine, and other garbage out of the body. It’s also a stock clerk: It keeps extra carbohydrates on hand and releases them when blood sugar levels are low, plus it warehouses fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K for future use. It’s a body builder, too: The liver makes proteins to build muscles, and it produces bile, which is needed to digest fat.

Evidence that coffee takes some stress off the liver was discovered when scientists determined that coffee lovers have fewer liver enzymes in their blood than do coffee shunners — and that’s a good thing. Liver enzymes are an indication of liver damage. What’s more, coffee’s protective effect was even more pronounced in moderate to heavy drinkers, even though alcohol can be particularly taxing on the liver (however, there’s no way coffee can make up for the damage that long-term heavy alcohol consumption does to the liver). Ready for a refill?

The goal: You want your blood to flow more freely through your arteries, like it did when you were a kid. The plan: Eat 8 nuts a day for 4 weeks.

Yep, it could be that simple. When people in a study replaced some of the monounsaturated fats in their diets with 8 to 13 walnuts a day, their blood vessels expanded after just a few weeks, allowing better blood flow.

The Alpha Factor
Walnuts are rich in cholesterol-lowering alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) as well as antioxidants, a heart-healthy form of vitamin E, and L-arginine — an amino acid that helps lower blood pressure. So it makes sense that when people with moderately high cholesterol eat a daily helping of the nuts, good things happen. And it did: In one study, not only did their blood vessels open wide, but also their total cholesterol fell and their bad LDL cholesterol dropped 6 percent!

Antioxidants and More
In the study, people ate walnuts for snacks, with meals, and in desserts and salads to replace some monounsaturated fats in their diets.

Pasta — Toss your noodles with this ready-in-minutes walnut-based sauce: Basic Basil Pesto

Simplicity reigns in this traditional sauce—just basil, garlic, cheese and olive oil. Our one modification? We like omega-3-laden walnuts in the mix for their crunch and delicate flavor, but pine nuts, almonds, pecans or even pistachios may be substituted for the walnuts.

Makes about 1 cup

ACTIVE TIME: 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes

EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

2 cups packed fresh basil leaves (2-3 bunches)
1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted (see Tip)
1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1 large clove garlic, quartered
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Place basil, walnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, oil, water, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor; pulse a few times, then process until fairly smooth, or to the desired consistency, scraping down the sides occasionally.

It’s one of the maddening ironies of aging: Hair gets thinner where we want it — on our heads — and starts sprouting up in places we don’t. You know what I’m talking about.

Good trimmers and tweezers are all you need for the latter. But for the former? Try these healthy hair foods from Drs. Roizen and Oz, of Realage.com (see below) — they can help make your locks look more like they did in your 20s.

Healthy-Hair Diet
Eat more salmon. Omega-3 rich foods like salmon and sardines help seal in shine. Distilled fish oils or DHA supplements will work, too.

Be a bran lover. Bran is rich in vitamin B, which may slow hair loss and promote hair growth. Other B-rich victuals include beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, soybeans, nuts, and eggs.

Say yes to avocados. Avocados and avocado oil may prevent some funky stuff that kills hair follicles — dihydrotestosterone (DHT) — from getting where it needs to go.

Say no to animal fat — and red meat — if you’re losing hair. They can lead to more DHT production and hair-follicle damage.

Say no to animal fat — and red meat — if you’re losing hair. They can lead to more DHT production and hair-follicle damage.

Stock up on green tea. Brew a strong pot, cool it, then give your head a rinse to help kill off dandruff-causing fungus. Incidentally, if you drink green tea, the caffeine in it may help slow balding, too.

Tired of skin products that sound too good to be true — and are? Then check out the only proven wrinkle reducer on the market: retinoids.

Retinoids can do amazing things, according to Dr. Amy Wechsler, dermatologist, psychiatrist, and author of RealAge’s new skin-care book, The Mind-Beauty Connection.

Beauty in a Bottle
Better skin can come in a bottle — well, actually, a tube. But it’s a tube your doctor has to prescribe. Wechsler recommends two kinds of retinoids in particular — tretinoin (Retin-A, Avita, Renova) and tazarotene (Tazorac, Avage). “These are FDA-approved, rub-on treatments that rank high on my list of skin-renewal candidates,” writes Wechsler in her new book. “Prescription retinoids can transform your skin, smoothing wrinkles, unclogging pores, lightening superficial brown spots, and improving the texture of the skin. It takes several weeks to start seeing results, but it’s so worth it.” (Learn more about our new RealAge skin-care expert.)

Ask your dermatologist if retinoids are right for you.

Did You Know?
Retinoids are vitamin A derivatives, and vitamin A can help your skin from the inside out as well as the outside in. Sweet potatoes are a great source of this skin-friendly vitamin. Here is one more antiwrinkle food to stock up on:

Chocolate:

The Truth About Chocolate and Your Skin

Here’s a formula for sensational skin: cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, and . . . chocolate?

You heard right. When eaten, flavanol-rich cocoa, the main ingredient in dark chocolate, improves skin’s texture, thickness, hydration, and blood flow. It may even boost your skin’s defense against the sun by up to 25 percent! How? It packs serious antioxidant power. Just don’t overdo it — chocolate is high in fat and calories, too. And you still need to wear sunscreen every day.

Chocolate’s good for your skin? It’s true! Antioxidant compounds in cocoa, called flavanols, improve artery health by boosting blood flow, and that boost may be good for your skin, too.

Researchers discovered this chocolate benefit in a study of women who consumed half a cup of cocoa (containing 329 milligrams of flavanols per serving, the amount in a 3-½ ounce serving of dark chocolate) daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the women experienced less skin dryness, scaling, and roughness compared to the beginning of the study. Also, their skin was thicker, exhibited improved blood flow, and was even more resistant to sun damage. Pretty amazing.

Still, don’t toss your sunscreen and indulge in mass quantities of chocolate. Consume the sweet in moderation and apply sunscreen every day when you’ll be outdoors for 20 minutes or more.

Which menu special should you order to keep your colon healthy? Go for the seafood platter.

According to a large 22-year study, men who eat fish and shrimp five times a week have a 40 percent lower risk of colorectal cancer. Just get it broiled, not fried, and go light on the butter.

What’s Fish Got That Colons Love?
Researchers aren’t sure why frequently eating fish has such a protective effect on colon health. The omega-3 fatty acids and the vitamin D in fish might get the credit. Or it could simply be that fans of fish eat less red meat — something known to raise colon cancer risk. Regardless, grab that mahimahi burger instead of the beef patty.

Fish Helps You Keep the Beat

In this ever more polluted world, sometimes you just can’t avoid a little bit of particulate matter in your lungs.

So go fish! Eating finny food not only reduces your risk for heart disease but also may protect your heart from air-pollution-induced arrhythmias.

Taking Heart Against Pollution
Short-term exposure to small airborne particles spewed from cars, power plants, and other industrial sources may cause an irregular heart rate. Serious stuff, because it could open the door to heart arrhythmias and even heart attacks in people who are over 60 or have heart or lung diseases.

Airing Things Out
But fish could help thwart that unhealthy chain of events. A study found that the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil may help alleviate those irregular beats. That’s just what happened when people over 60 who were exposed to particulate matter took a daily fish oil supplement. Fish oil supplements aren’t for everyone, though, and should be discussed with a doctor first.

Products Need Warning Labels, Scientist Says; Industry Contends They’re Safe to Drink

Caffeinated energy drinks that promise super alertness — and sometimes imply better sports performance — should carry labels that specify their amount of caffeine, says a Johns Hopkins University scientist.

Drinks with the highest caffeine content should also warn of potential health dangers, says Roland Griffiths, PhD, a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, and senior author of a new report on the beverages.

“Many of these drinks do not label the caffeine content,” he says, and some energy drinks contain as much caffeine as found in 14 cans of soda.

The industry begs to differ, with spokespeople pointing out that most “mainstream” energy drinks contain the same amount of caffeine, or even less, than you’d get in a cup of brewed coffee. If labels listing caffeine content are required on energy drinks, they should also be required on coffeehouse coffee, says Maureen Storey, PhD, a spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association.

Energy Drinks: Caffeine Content
Griffiths and his colleagues contacted more than two dozen makers of energy drinks, asking for caffeine content. Here are some of the findings:

(The caffeine content is in milligrams per serving. Although serving sizes vary, Griffiths contends that most people will drink the entire can, whatever the number of ounces.)

Red Bull: 80 milligrams per 8.3-ounce serving
Tab Energy: 95 mg per 10.5-oz serving
Monster and Rockstar: 160 mg per 16-oz serving
No Fear: 174 mg per 16-oz serving
Fixx: 500 per 20-oz serving
Wired X505: 505 mg per 24-oz serving
In comparison, according to Griffiths:

Brewed coffee: 200 milligrams per 12-oz serving
Instant coffee: 140 mg per 12-oz serving
Brewed tea: 80 mg per 12-oz serving
Mountain Dew: 54 mg per 12 oz. serving
Dr. Pepper: 41 mg per 12-oz serving
Pepsi Cola: 38 mg per 12-oz serving
Coca-Cola Classic: 34.5 mg per 12-oz serving
Canned or bottled tea: 20 mg per 12-oz serving
Some of the energy drinks have lower caffeine contents, Griffith says. Among the lower doses:

Bomba Energy has 75 mg per 8.4-oz serving
Whoop Ass has 50 mg per 8.5-oz serving

(more…)

Taking more exercise and eating the right foods may help increase levels of an enzyme vital for guarding against age-related cell damage, work suggests.

Among 24 men asked to adopt healthy lifestyle changes for a US study in The Lancet Oncology, levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Telomerase repairs and lengthens telomeres, which cap and protect the ends of chromosomes housing DNA.

As people age, telomeres shorten and cells become more susceptible to dying.

It is the damage and death of cells that causes ageing and disease in people.

Several factors such as smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with shorter-than-average telomeres.

Professor Dean Ornish, from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, and his team wanted to find out if improvements in diet and lifestyle might have the opposite effect.

They asked 30 men, all with low-risk prostate cancers, to take part in a three-month trial of comprehensive lifestyle changes.

These consisted of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, supplements of vitamins and fish oils, an exercise regimen and classes in stress management, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises.

Telomerase activity was measured at the beginning of the trial and again at the end.

Among the 24 men who had sufficient data for analysis, blood levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Increases in telomerase activity were linked with decreases in “bad” LDL cholesterol and decreases in one measure of stress - intrusive thoughts.

The researchers say it is too early to tell if the boost in telomerase levels will translate to a change in telomere length.

But there is evidence to suggest that telomere shortness and low telomerase activity might be important risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“This might be a powerful motivator for many people to beneficially change their diet and lifestyle,” they told The Lancet Oncology.

Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, who has been researching ageing and telomeres, said: “This work builds on what we already know.

If you’ve ever polished off a fresh baguette or fought over that last slice of deep-dish pizza, you’ve eaten gluten. It’s the healthy plant protein found in several grains that, among other baking feats, makes bread light, chewy, and irresistible. So you’d think it would be everybody’s favorite nutrient. Nope. Instead, shunning gluten — it’s in wheat, rye, and barley, and often in oats — has become the diet of the moment.

Why? Lots of people swear they feel 10 times better when they don’t eat gluten, celebs included: Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Weisz, and Jenny McCarthy are all rumored to be gluten-free. Also, for certain people, avoiding gluten is a medical must: It does a number on their intestines. So could all those stomach cramps be caused by your morning bagel? Should you try going gluten-free? Here’s the real what’s what:

Some people can’t tolerate gluten. Period. In them, gluten triggers an immune-system attack on the small intestine, also known as celiac disease. This disorder isn’t that common, fortunately — only about 1% of Americans (3 million people) have it — but almost 97% of them are undiagnosed! Symptoms range from gas, pain, and bloating to fatigue, seizures, and depression. Over time, celiac disease can screw up digestion to the point of malnutrition. Self-test kits are sold online and can provide clues, and blood tests are the next step, but a definitive diagnosis requires a biopsy.

Some people seem sensitive to gluten. But “gluten sensitivity” is a medical gray area. There are no tests for it, and although problems — migraines, skin breakouts, irritability, even autism — have been blamed on it, doctors haven’t found a clear link. If you suspect you’re sensitive, before you put your toaster and pasta machine on eBay, try this: Go gluten-free for a few weeks to see if symptoms improve; then, add a bit of gluten back into your diet. If problems return, you may be on to something.

How to Try Going Gluten-Free
Most suspicious foods are easy to spot. They include anything with wheat — bread, muffins, cookies, most other baked goods — as well as foods made with several other grains: barley soups, ham on rye, anything with oats. But there are hidden sources, too. Gluten is used in soy sauce, beer, hot dogs, some ice creams, caramel flavoring, sausages, and foods seasoned with MSG. It’s even in the adhesive on stamps and envelopes!

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To keep your knees and hands free of arthritis, here’s what you should have before each meal: a small salad.

Why? Because the vitamin K in leafy greens — think cabbage, spinach, and swiss chard, for starters — could help reduce your risk of joint damage.

Get a Grip on Arthritis
In a study of older adults, those with higher blood levels of vitamin K were significantly less likely to develop the bone spurs and cartilage damage that are common in painful osteoarthritis. Hands seemed to benefit most, but people’s knees got some protection, too. Just one word of caution: If you’re on blood thinners, check with your doctor about appropriate K intake.

A Yummy Greens Scene
You shouldn’t need a vitamin K supplement if you eat your greens — especially dark ones. (Whew. One less supplement to take.)

I love kale. Here’s a recipe i’d like to try soon:

Indian-Spiced Kale and ChickpeasChickpeas make this exotic dish a terrific player in any vegetarian menu.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-1 1/2 pounds kale, ribs removed, coarsely chopped (see Tip)
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth, or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garam masala, (see Ingredient note)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed

Directions
1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add kale and cook, tossing with two large spoons, until bright green, about 1 minute. Add broth, coriander, cumin, garam masala and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the kale is tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in chickpeas; cover and cook until the chickpeas are heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

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