Mom prefers Sous Vide to the traditional roasted turkey

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday- for so many reasons. But the turkey can be a pain — a pain to make properly, and then a pain because you have so much of it that one tires of turkey leftovers after a day or so.  The answer- making Turkey Sous Vide.

Sous Vide is a method of cooking that we have advocated for a while.  Don’t have a Sous Vide machine? Treat yourself and start changing the way you cook. It allows low temperature cooking, so that the meats are not overly dry. The most common reason people go to an emergency room on Thanksgiving is they get a piece of dry turkey caught in their throat. With Sous Vide, the turkey won’t be dry (of course, if you swallow too large a piece it can still get stuck).

The previous posts have talked about Sous Vide but there are a number of places that sell the equipment for the home cook to do Sous Vide cooking easily.  Most people need to get a water oven and a machine that does vacuum sealing of the food.  You can use the link above to purchase the Sous Vide machine, or you can find them at places like  Sur Le Table and William-Sonoma.  Mine was purchased from William-Sonoma and I have demonstrated its use at their stores.

Turkey

The first key is to butcher the turkey into its parts.  This makes the bird manageable.  As  you can see from the video, I love to do that myself, but if you have a good butcher they will do that for you. You can also purchase the pieces individually from the butcher if you like.  Some purchase just breast, some thighs.  It is cheaper to purchase the entire bird, though, and have the butcher break down the bird, including splitting the breasts.

This allows the turkey parts to be cooked at temperatures and times individually for them. It also allows you to cook the entire turkey Sous Vide and those parts you won’t use can be frozen for up to six months (avoiding those many recipes for turkey soups, turkey casseroles, and turkey curry).

To Brine or not Brine

Many talk about placing the turkey into a brine in order to help the turkey stay moist through cooking.  The brine has little to do with a turkey being moist. A brine is a solution of salty water, and some place other herbs and sugar in it- that draws water out of the turkey, especially the skin. It does not make the turkey more moist when cooking it.  Over cooking turkey in an oven is easy- over cooking turkey Sous Vide is impossible.

I find brines and marinades to be messy.  But having a turkey broken down into its parts makes it easier to handle.

Instead consider seasoning the turkey with Kosher Salt for a day. Less messy than making up a brine.  Salting the turkey helps the skin become crisp.

Seasoning the turkey:

A simple salt and pepper seasoning works well on the turkey. You won’t need olive oil on it, and we will take care of that great herb flavor with our cachet of herbs.  Salt and pepper the skin.  There are a number of poultry rubs available- and you may prefer those.

Herbs:

With Sous Vide the best way to permeate the turkey with sage, rosemary, thyme, and even basil if you like- is to roll these up in a plastic wrap. Cut off both ends and drop this into the bag.  If you put the herbs in directly there will be bits of turkey that will have intense flavor, and other bits that have none.

Duck Fat or Butter:

Placing either duck fat or butter in the bag will bathe the turkey during the time it is in the water oven. Some prefer one over the other- some even use a bit of olive oil. Butter is easy because it is solid at room temperature and melts nicely in the water oven.  Duck Fat, if kept in the refrigerator is solid at cool temperatures also.  Olive oil isn’t solid at room temperature and may be pulled out by the vacuum sealer, unless you are careful.

Water Oven Time:

Once sealed, they can be placed into the water bath kept at 150 degrees F.  Breast is done in 2.5 hours, thighs about 2 hours. They can stay in for longer- so if the guests are not quite ready, you can relax knowing that the turkey will not over cook.

Simple Sear:

When you are ready, have a hot grill to sear the turkey skin and provide that crispness to it. Whether you use a grill, grill pan, or hot oil – it is only two minutes a side.

Pre-Left overs:

If you find that you will have more turkey than you need- leave the turkey in the vacuum sealed bag. Put it into an ice bath immediately to stop the cooking and cool it down. Then freeze it. The turkey will be ok for up to six months.  Three months after last Thanksgiving we placed turkey breast back into the Sous Vide for 30 minutes to “re-warm” it (an oven, microwave, or stove will dry it out) – and had the most delicious, most amazing turkey breast — far better for sandwiches than anything you could purchase.
–
Want to smell that stuffing– simple- make your favorite stuffing and bake it– the house will smell like thanksgiving and no choking on dry turkey!

Who would have imagined that my patient, Evo, would have lost 14 pounds on the “beer and sausage” diet (now called the Evo diet).

From the medical side there are two other benefits — his triglyceride level dropped by half, his cholesterol dropped by a third, and his “good” cholesterol increased.  There was never an increase or a blip in any of the liver enzymes.  His fat mass dropped, the only non-fat mass of his that decreased was that tissue associated with and supporting the fat mass (I know, sounds complicated).  His muscle mass maintained itself.

One important lesson learned: we do not know enough about science and medicine and diets to be able to say anything to anyone about which diet is healthy and which is not. But let me give you an example – we had more data points for this one month of the Evo diet than Ornish had for his diet program.

The famous Ornish line is that his data showed a decrease in “Plaques” of patients who had heart disease. This was based on less than 20 patients, including the control group.  He has since gone on to show poor data with prostate cancer, as well as aging. The data that Ornish has isn’t good, and when you look at the data we generated in one month from the Evo diet, one could assume that we would find people would do better not doing the Ornish diet and following the Evo diet.  This is said with a smile, because never has a “lifestyle” and diet – such as Ornish, been propagated with less data and more press.  Ok- there is also the China Project (a single misuse of data to say the same thing).

The second important part of Evo’s diet was this: there was a simple and yet profound control of the portion sizes that he had. It was measured, it was regulated to around 1500 calories per day.  Based on that,  Evo lost more than we would expect him to have lost. Why? No clue.

What can you take away from this: First, if you want to have a diet begin by strictly regulating portions. Portion control is a key for any weight loss, including weight loss surgery.  Limit your portions, and thus your calories, and you should lose weight.  The advantage of beer and sausages is that they come in nice units that you can measure.

Processed meats appear to increase risk of colo-rectal cancer

What you should NOT take away from this: beer and sausage are not “diet foods.” Beer and sausage were, in this case, a tool for great portion control. And Evo ate more than just sausage. He ate what came with it.  When I cooked for him he had the peppers and onions that went with my famous recipe (recipe will be on terrysimpson.com later). He had bread (yes, I know some of you think bread is the devil’s tool) – if it came with the sausage.

The final message is most important- We don’t understand food as well as Ornish, Atkins, or pick some diet guru would have you believe.

This is going to be the next wave in medicine– medical tourism, done by US surgeons who operate overseas, to provide better care, better outcomes, better environment – and even better equipment, than can be offered in the United States.

Medical Tourism- new concept- US Surgeons working abroad

Medical Tourism has taken a new step. Some think that medical tourism is new- it isn’t.  People have traveled to get the surgery by the team, or the surgeon they wanted for years. Sometimes they do this for economic reasons- but often patients  do this because they want to go where they can have the best hands working on them.

Medical tourism within the US is common. People traveling from one coast to another to get the right surgeon, with the right team to do their operation.  A friend of mine needed a rare operation (thoracic aneurysm) , and I sent them to Houston – where they have done more than anywhere else.  In my own practice we’ve had hundreds of patients come to Arizona to have us do their weight loss surgery.

In the history of surgery- the fathers of American Surgery would take patients overseas, operate on them where hospitals had perfected techniques.  Halsted- who was the founding surgeon at Johns Hopkins, spent years going overseas to learn and perfect techniques. Over time the US became a leader in surgery and then tourism shifted where  patients  would come to the US for their surgery.  From the 1940′s til recently   surgeons from overseas would come to the US to learn, but that has shifted away from the US again.

Today laparoscopic procedures that have been perfected outside the US, and patients travel outside the US for procedures they can’t get here. Some of the procedures can be done here,  such as gastric plication. But with gastric plication  patients are getting them from surgeons that have little experience, and centers that are not familiar with how to take care of the patients from nursing to radiology.Gastric plication is a simple surgery in concept, but not in terms of technique. Unlike stapling, you can’t just cut on the dotted line. But- in Baja they have done more than anyone in North America.

Halsted - father of American Surgery - first medical tourist surgeon

Medical tourism is needed for two reasons first is the economics of medicine in the US. Because so many people can’t get insurance, or have such high deductibles that they have to take their health care in their own hands. For them, getting an operation at a price less than in the US- and with more experience, with US surgeons is revolutionary.The second is they can easily go somewhere and have the US surgeon do their operation in a facility that exceeds any facility in the US.

Our teaming up with Dr. Ortiz in Baja represents the new wave of medical tourism – bringing together international expertise, surgical skill, and compassion.

Sometimes all you want for breakfast is a cup of coffee-- and that's ok

Everyone knows:  Always   eat Breakfast

There   are   a lot   of   variations   of   this   axiom.

“Breakfast   is   the   most   important   meal   of   the day.”

“Breakfast makes it so you won’t be hungry later.”

“Breakfast jump starts your metabolism”

“You need to eat a large breakfast”

“Breakfast   is   the   most   important   meal   of   the day.”

All of those are FALSE.

Breakfast is NOT the most important meal of the day- so don’t force it. The reality is that most people are not ready to eat breakfast when they first wake up.  So why does “everyone” say this? Some of this data was based on the Iowa Breakfast study- which was more than a single paper- but a group of observations made over a number of years and published. There have been a number of other studies showing that kids who eat breakfast do better in school than kids who do not. However, there are a lot of variables not accounted for in those studies.

In addition- a few other items were not taken into account: if you wake up at 4 am to do chores until 7 am, then have breakfast and go to school, you will do better in school than someone who wakes up at 4 am, does chores and doesn’t get breakfast.

Regarding most breakfast studies — funded by, and poor research  done, from cereal companies. Doesn’t mean they are bad studies- but they all fall into poor categories of evidenced based research.

“Breakfast makes it so you won’t be hungry later.”

A recent study showed that people who eat a large breakfast are not affected by how much they eat later in the day. Meaning that eating a large breakfast won’t keep you from snacking, or eating less the rest of the day.

You wonder where people come up with this idea– but when it is put to the scientific test- the breakfast you consume does not reduce food you consume later. Not one bit. No relation- no correlation.

Breafast buffet is not your friend

“Breakfast jump starts your metabolism”

They also found that eating less in the morning contributed to overall weight loss (if you eat less calories you will lose more weight).  There is a simple truth about weight loss – if you eat more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat big breakfasts and lots of other calories you will gain weight.  Breakfast does not jump start your metabolism- your body does that.

Again- how would you measure a “jump start” to metabolism? There are ways- but activity itself increases heart rate, breathing, and over all muscle activity. If you take comatose patients and measure their oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production- and cycle feeds – the feeds do not increase metabolism. Another study took college football players and put them into a hospital and fed them. They were allowed to do a few walks- but not much more.  It was activity that increased metabolism- not food. Any food will increase some metabolism – but a breaking of the fast does NOT do any sort of jump start.

“You need to eat a large breakfast”

Want to just have a smoothie or yogurt or some oatmeal to start your day? Go ahead. You want to wait for a couple of hours after you get up before having something to eat- that works too. But if you eat a large breakfast – you still need to work off those calories.

You think this is an important meal?

The great thing about breakfast foods: You can eat them anytime! Who doesn’t like eggs for dinner? And after a long day- nothing is more refreshing than a blueberry smoothie to take the edge off hunger, and let you relax for a bit.  We have recipes for smoothies containing micronutrients, fibers, and supplements – a simple smoothie can be a pleasant treat after a long day of work, taking the edge off hunger so you can make a great dinner.

For the smoothie and other recipes go to terrysimpson.com

Artificial sweeteners are either the saving grace of America, or the devil. The first issue with artificial sweeteners came to light when cyclamates (the first marketed artificial sweeteners) were found to cause cancer in rats. So in 1969 cyclamates were taken off the market. Saccharin was the next agent, but many didn’t like its after taste. Then came aspartame (Equal). This had no bitter after taste and became the favorite until someone started a rumor that aspartame killed ants, and was originally developed as a rat poison – this is untrue on both counts.

First, aspartame was developed as an artificial sweetener and second, it does not kill ants (I tried it, as have a lot of others – sadly it doesn’t work). Splenda does contain calories (because of our FDA regulations it is allowed to be listed as “zero calories” but it is not). Splenda has 3.36 calories per packet (1 gram). It tastes like sugar and is generally easy to cook with – however; one package of Splenda is 600 times sweeter than an equal amount of sugar.

Two other sweeteners have joined the market in the United Sates. Stevia- is a product of several plants and was recently approved as a food additive in the United States, and Truvia (a proprietary blend of Stevia made by Coca-Cola and Cargill the Pepsi produce it PureVia). These are essentially all the same. There are some other sugar-alcohols like Xylitol that function as sweeteners.

The issue with artificial sweeteners has been getting use to the sweet taste, and thus an increase in appetite. In rats that are consuming artificial sweeteners there is an increase in their body weight over time as they increase the amount of food they consume. Not that we are rats – but avoiding the overly sweet taste is important. And there is no accident that while many of my weight loss patients consumes large quantities of “diet cola” – they still consume a lot of calories to go with them. It is also no accident that once our patients get off artificial sweeteners, they lose more weight.

People who drink sodas that have artificial sweeteners have a sixty percent increase in stroke and heart disease. Sixty percent!

How do you gain weight with artificial sweeteners? Since they are so sweet, you naturally want food to balance out the sweetness. Increasing the quantity of food allows you to increase the bitter, sour, and other sensations to balance the sweet taste. Remember, your palate always wants to return to a balance.

Overall –avoid the artificial sweeteners. Still- what is better than artificial sweeteners in soda? Simple water. It is free (unless you are in a city where the water tastes bad) and is regulated more tightly than most things

Imagine a way that the government could reduce the level of obesity and it would cost nothing.  The government had that chance- and they blew it.

The US Department of Agriculture denied a request by New York State to run a pilot program where the city of New York would not allow people to purchase soda, or other sugar sweetened beverages, using food stamps. There are at least seven other states requesting such pilot programs.

It is not surprising that the opposition to this proposal came from the beverage industry who said, “It’s another attempt for government to tell people what they can and can’t drink. Singling out one specific item is discriminatory and unfair.”

Really? No one is saying they can’t drink soda – simply that the government won’t purchase items that are not in line with the intent of the food stamp program which is, “to provide for improved levels of nutrition among low-income people each month.”

The USDA said that city retailers would not be prepared to implement the new policy.  The food stamp program is run with a debit-style card. If a beneficiary is purchasing items from the grocery store not covered by food stamps, such as tobacco or alcohol, the cashier collects the money for those items after the food is deducted.

The original Food Stamp Act prohibited purchase of “soft drinks,” but that was changed because of regulatory issues-, which are now overcome thanks to technology. In fact, New York City officials stated that the “program’s electronic benefit card looks and acts like a credit or debit card” and that it only covers “some of the items in a typical s hopping cart, so program participants are already accustomed to supplementing their purchases with personal funds.”

The USDA also said “the proposal lacked rigorous methods to asses changes in sugar sweetened beverage consumption resulting from the new policy and the effects of those changes on obesity and health.”  A pilot program doesn’t have to prove that sugar sweetened beverages are not “food.” Even the original act prohibited these items.

The government purchases millions of gallons of sugar laden drinks for food stamp holders every day. Obesity is the number two killer in the United States – and by denying this simple pilot program are paying for obesity.  Preventing obesity costs nothing – paying for the effects of obesity costs everything.

References:

US Department of Agriculture. The Food Stampe Act of 1964. http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/rules/Legislation/pdfs/PL_88-525.pdf.

Jessica Shahan, Associate-Administrator, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, USDA, to Elizabeth Berlin, Executive Deputy Commissioner, New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance. August 19, 2011.

Scott-Thomas C. Food stamp soda exemption in NYC is discriminatory, says industry. Food Navigator-USA. May 5, 2011. http://www.foodnavgator-usa.com/Business/Food-Stamp-soda-exemption-in-NYC-is-discriminatory-syas-industry

JAMA, September 28, 2011 Vol 306, No. 12 page 1370-1371

Many people today are talking about diets that are “gluten-free.” Restaurants are offering “gluten-free” menus. There are websites, chiropractors, and others proclaiming that going on a gluten-free diet will provide improved health. But lets be clear- unless you have an allergy to gluten, removing gluten from your diet will not provide better health, weight loss, but eliminating gluten will dramatically limit what you can eat.

But there are some people who are “allergic” to gluten- and for them having a gluten free diet is the difference between health and illness – between a risk of some rare cancers for which we don’t have great treatment for. We call that condition celiac disease – for those who have celiac disease, being gluten free is critical. Other names for this disease include celiac sprue, gluten sensitive enteropathy, non-tropical sprue, and a few other names.

Gluten is a protein that is found in wheat, barley, rye, and oats. Gluten is a protein that allows wheat to have “elasticity” – meaning you can roll out the dough- or toss it in the air and make a great pizza crust. You can’t do that with non-gluten grains—no one can make a pizza or great bread from corn alone. Gluten is also used to thicken soups, ketchup, soy sauce, and is found in almost every processed food out there. Take gluten out of the American diet and you will be challenged to find good alternatives.

When a person is allergic to gluten their symptoms include malnutrition, anemia, osteoporosis, infertility, short stature, and inability to thrive. However, the “classic” symptoms are not necessarily common. There are a number of patients who have silent celiac disease, where they will be discovered to have atrophy of their absorptive surface of the small bowel without any symptoms, or just mild symptoms such as an iron deficiency anemia. There are a number of forms of celiac disease that respond well to a gluten free diet – and remain normal after introduction of gluten into the diet.

Celiac disease is best diagnosed with a biopsy of the small intestine. Most often the biopsy is performed endoscopically from the first part of the small bowel, the duodenum. However, those biopsies can be negative, and more distal small bowel may show the classic pathologic appearance. Those biopsies most often have to be done surgically, or with advanced endoscopic equipment.

The small bowel, under a microscope, has many small finger-like projections called villi. These serve to increase the surface area of the small bowel to allow for maximum absorption of nutrients. In celiac disease, there is atrophy of these villi – seen microscopically- and this improves when gluten is removed from the diet.

Above normal villi, below- atrophied

While celiac disease is classically called an “allergy” to gluten – it does promote some antibodies against the connective tissue elements – leading some to call this an auto-immune disease. However, when the foreign protein is withdrawn, there is no residual auto-immune function. The “auto-antibodies” may simply reflect the gluten protein unfolded – and having a similar structure to the bodies own endomysium protein.

There have been various reports about the prevalence of celiac disease – ranging from 1:300 among Northern Europeans (Celtic) to 1:122. There is a large genetic distribution of the disease – with a high concordance among identical twins of up to 70 per cent. There are some genetic markers that have a high association with celiac disease, but the expression of the disease is variable – meaning that the genetic marker is a tendency but not a certainty of celiac disease. If everyone who had the genetic markers were to develop the disease, it would be estimated that 1 in 22 people would have this. However, this is not the case.

Diagnosis of celiac disease is made based on clinical suspicion of the classical presentation (iron deficiency, osteoporosis, with abdominal complaints) followed by some tests. A biopsy is the most reliable test, however there are blood tests ( IgA anti-gliadin and IgA anti-endomysial and anti-tissue transglutaminase) that are over 90 per cent accurate. Even with a negative blood test but a high enough suspicion, duodenal biopsy or even surgical biopsy is warranted.

There are plenty of questions about celiac disease- we don’t know the actual prevalence in the population, we don’t know if being gluten free as demonstrated by follow up biopsy has a lower incidence of lymphoma.

What we do know is that gluten is not a health issue in people who do not have celiac disease. Gluten-free will not cure autism. Gluten free will not facilitate weight  loss. There are, however,  groups who will claim that gluten is a health issue- there is no basis for this claim. If someone has told you to remove gluten from your diet, and you do not have a test showing celiac disease (one of the tests listed above)- please see a physician to resolve this.

For people who have celiac disease- there is a bit of culinary hope. Thomas Keller, one of the world’s greatest chefs and owner of Ad Hoc, French Laundry, Per Se, and Bouchon- has developed a flour that works well. You can purchase it from Williams-Sonoma.

Thomas Keller has come up with a great flour, gluten Free.

Heart disease happens when the arteries feeding the heart become infiltrated with plaques – and these plaques happen to contain fat, cholesterol, white blood cells. If the plaque builds up slowly the flow of blood to the heart diminishes and people develop chest pain or angina. If that plaque ruptures and causes the artery to close- that is a heart attack or myocardial infarction.

Plaque formation was thought to be because of a person’s diet – since the plaques had high levels of fat and cholesterol, it was thought that a diet that was low in fat and cholesterol would minimize a person’s risk of heart disease. Sometimes that is true- but not always- as the French have shown us- with a diet high in fat and cholesterol and one of the lowest levels of heart disease in the western world.

It turns out the instigator of plaque formation are the lipo-proteins that carry cholesterol and triglycerides. Think of LDL, HDL, VLDL, and IDL (low density lipoprotein, high density lipoprotein, very low density lipoprotein, and intermediate density lipoproteins) as boxcars that carry cholesterol and triglycerides. Those lipoproteins set off an inflammatory reaction in the blood vessel (they become oxidized) and that leads to plaque formation. The more of those proteins a person has, the higher the likelihood that they will develop heart disease.

Think of LDL as “lousy.” The HDL levels are associated with fewer tendencies for heart disease – but they still can cause inflammation of the artery, and a problem. Hence, artificially raising HDL levels causes more issues with heart disease (as was recently discovered in the niacin trials). HDL levels are seen in people who have more omega-3 fatty acids in their diets, but increasing their levels is still harmful.

The more lipoproteins your body makes the higher incidence of heart disease you will have.

It has only been recently that science has recognized that one must measure the lipoproteins directly. Not indirectly by measuring cholesterol – as the laboratories do today. In the recent article from the Journal of the American Medical Association, they measured LDL-cholesterol in people placed on diets rich in soy proteins, fiber, and walnuts – showing a decrease in the LDL-cholesterol – a classic mistake. LDL-cholesterol does not measure the total number of lipoproteins. The amount of lipoproteins one has depends on how much cholesterol and triglycerides the lipoproteins have to carry. If a person has a lot of cholesterol and/or triglycerides in the blood the body will make more lipoproteins. If you have too many, those lipoproteins will get into the wall of the artery and lay down their cholesterol and triglycerides (which are fats).

If you have a lot of triglycerides it will bump off the cholesterol and you will make more proteins to carry the triglycerides. Your cholesterol level will be low, but your number of lipoproteins will be high- and thus, even with low cholesterol you will have a high incidence of heart disease. This explains some of the seemingly contradictory data of people who had low LDL-cholesterol levels but a higher incidence of heart disease – when that blood was looked at later they were found to have a high level of the LDL proteins.

We still don’t understand everything about the biology of the formation of plaque but we do know this: genetics determines most of the level of cholesterol, and if your level is high reducing it with medication will reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes. If you have genetically high triglyceride levels, the same applies.

In terms of diet- dietary cholesterol has minimal impact on blood cholesterol. Triglyceride level can be greatly impacted by diet – however.

To reduce triglycerides in your diet, here are some suggestions:

* Eat fewer calories if you are overweight. Excess calories are converted into triglycerides and stored as fat.
* Avoid trans fats, found in some fried foods and commercial baked products.
* Replace saturated fat (found in animal fat and some tropical oils) for mono-unsaturated fat (found in olive/canola/peanut oils, etc.).
* Consume at least 2 servings of cold water fish each week, such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, lake trout, herring, and sardines (all of which are high in omega-3-fatty acid). *Include into your diet other foods high in omega-3 fatty acid, such as ground/milled flaxseed, walnuts, almonds, canola or soybean oil, etc.
* Avoid refined foods and foods that contain sugar (such as white flour, desserts, candy, juices, fruit drinks).
* Choose carbohydrates that have 2 grams fiber or more per serving, such as brown rice, whole wheat bread, and whole grain cereals.
* Consume at least 2-3 cups of vegetables and 1 cup of fruit each day.
* Follow your doctor’s advice regarding alcohol. Alcohol increases triglyceride levels for some individuals. If you have high triglycerides and do consume alcohol (such as red wine), it is recommended to limit intake to 5 ounces per day or limit it entirely.
* Exercise to burn excess calories, aiming for at least 30 minutes of physical activity on most days of the week.

Medications
People who have high triglycerides and low HDL or high LDL levels may require medications as well as diet modifications. Patients with triglycerides in the very high range (over 500 mg/dL) generally will require medications, because triglyceride levels this high may cause an acute inflammation of the pancreas.

The Food and Drug Administration is now recommending that sunglasses you buy should have UVA and UVB rating of 100 percent “to get the most protection” from the harmful rays of the sun. They also recommend that consumers try to find “a wrap around style” that covers the eye socket completely.  Children also need these sunglasses and parents should check the label. Remember – most sunglasses do not test for, and do not offer this protection.

Sunglasses with UVA/UVB protection recommended by the FDA

Sun damage to the eyes can cause cataracts, skin cancer to the eyelids, and more seriously macular degeneration- a leading cause of blindness.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends that people have their eyes checked at age 40 and that children have their eyes checked when they first attend school. People who have a family history of any kind of eye disease should come in early.

Sunglasses that have UVA and UVB ratings of 100 per cent can be found for as little as $10 on up.  For me- this means tossing out a few sunglasses and buying some new ones—damn.

Cell Phones and Brain Cancer—No Link in Kids

More kids are texting than calling

In the latest series of papers regarding cell phones and brain tumors, a study out of Europe examined 1,000 children and concluded that kids who used cellphones were no more likely to develop brain tumors than any other kids.  The report, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.  The incidence of brain cancer among children has not increased in the last 20 years – while cell phone use has dramatically increased since the 1980’s.  Still, this caused controversy as Devra Davis, former advisor to US Department of Health and Human Services called the study “an astonishing, disturbing and unwarranted conclusion.”

I don’t know about all of you, but it seems fewer kids talk and more text.

Anorexia nervosa associated with highest mortality, and suicide rates among eating disorders

In the July issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, a group of studies were examined and found that people with an eating disorder have an increased risk of death, but those who suffer from anorexia nervosa have a higher risk of death and suicide. There was a high level from those who have bulimia nervosa.  Of the people who died in the study, one in five died from suicide.

This is a very sad statistic, and pointing out that those individuals who have anorexia need to be in treatment for their disorder, and not feel isolated.

Strokes Related to Pregnancy on the Rise

There has been a disturbing increase in pregnancy-related stroke incidence.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 1994 to 1995 and 2006 to 2007 the stroke-related hospitalization for pregnant women rose 47% – and if they included the three months after giving birth the incidence rose to 83%.

The two factors attributed are the increasing obesity with its co-morbidities of high blood pressure and heart disease.  Pregnant women who start out unhealthy and have diabetes or high blood pressure almost double their risk of stroke.

Yet another reason to start to eat healthy, eat smaller portions, and for obese women to consider a LAP-BAND for weight loss.