Health : Health Buzz: A Healthy Diet Isn't Cheap |
| Health Buzz: A Healthy Diet Isn't Cheap Posted: 05 Aug 2011 10:13 AM PDT Following Government's Diet Advice Would Inflate Average Food Tab Eating healthfully can drain the wallet—so much that it could make it difficult for Americans to follow the government's 2010 Dietary Guidelines, according to a study published Thursday in Health Affairs. The federal dietary guidelines implore Americans to get more potassium, fiber, vitamin D, and calcium, and to avoid saturated fat and added sugar. Actually following that advice is expensive, likely leading to grocery tabs that are hundreds of dollars higher than what the average American spends annually, the Associated Press reports. Meeting the 4,700 milligrams per day recommendation for potassium—a notoriously difficult target—alone could add $380 a year to the average American's bill. But the payoff could outweigh the cost, since sufficient potassium counters salt's ability to raise blood pressure, decreases bone loss, and reduces the risk of developing kidney stones. (Potatoes, beans, and bananas are all good sources.) For the study, researchers at University of Washington surveyed more than 1,000 area adults on their eating habits, and calculated the nutrient content and cost of their subjects' diets. Perhaps not surprisingly, respondents who spent the most got closest to federal recommendations. Food costs dipped considerably each time they got 1 percent more daily calories from saturated fat and sugar, according to the researchers. 6 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Fruits and Veggies Experts say most people know they don't eat nearly enough fruits and vegetables (Find how much the government says you should be getting here.) Some may not know how to prepare them. Others might think they don't like them. Here are six ways to work them into your diet painlessly, U.S. News reported in 2010: 1. Use them in sauces, chili, soups, and casseroles. They're great at camouflaging zucchini, squash, carrots, or corn. Grate and sauté them or pulse them in a food processor until they're smooth. But they don't have to be hidden to taste good. Pasta sauces or toppings on meat dishes are other veggie vehicles. Grab a can of butternut squash soup and cook gnocchi in it—it's "super yummy," says Andrea Giancoli, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. Smother your chicken in ratatouille—an assortment of seasoned, sautéed veggies—or top sea bass with tomatoes, capers, and olives or perhaps a mango salsa. [Read more: 6 Ways to Trick Yourself Into Eating Fruits and Veggies] How to Stay on a Diet to Lose or Maintain Weight A diet is only as good as your ability to stick to it. Research has found that most plans will help you lose weight, regardless of type—low-fat or low-carb, for example. What counts is whether you can stay on it long-term. And with restaurant meals, dinners with friends, and hot fudge sundaes to tempt you, adherence is an understandable challenge. Here are five tricks for making your diet stick: 1. Gather the troops. You need support, be it from a friend, a group like Overeaters Anonymous, or even an online community. Research suggests those who go it alone are most likely to fall off the wagon. That's why some diet plans have a formal support component—Weight Watchers connects dieters via weekly meetings, while Jenny Craig members are assigned counselors for advice and encouragement. If you're not comfortable talking about your weight face-to-face, log online. By signing up for the free program PeerTrainer, for example, dieters can interact and track each others' weight-loss progress, pose questions, and swap diet and exercise tips. "It's important to have people who will pick you up when times are tough and cheer you on when you have successes," says registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, author of The Flexitarian Diet. Plus, she adds: "Healthy habits are contagious." [Read more: How to Stay on a Diet to Lose or Maintain Weight.] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Health Buzz: New HIV Infections Have Largely Leveled Off in U.S. Posted: 04 Aug 2011 09:40 AM PDT But Officials Note 'Alarming' Increase Among Young, Gay and Bisexual Black Men The total number of new HIV infections in the U.S. remained relatively stable between 2006 and 2009, at about 50,000 new cases each year, according to estimates released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that's far from what public health officials would consider good news. Even one new case of the incurable but largely preventable virus is one too many. In 2006 there were 48,600 new HIV infections, 56,000 in 2007, 47,800 in 2008, and 48,100 in 2009, according to agency findings published in PLoS ONE. Though the numbers didn't vary much from year to year, experts noticed a disproportionately high number of infections among men who have sex with men, who make up an estimated 2 percent of the U.S. population. They accounted for 61 percent—or 29,300—of new infections in 2009. Young, gay black men ages 13 to 29 experienced an "alarming" spike in infections, and were the only group to show a sustained increase during the four-year study, officials said. New infections in that group rose 48 percent, from 4,400 cases in 2006 to 6,500 in 2009. Stigma, limited access to healthcare, and a tendency to underestimate their risk may be driving this trend, researchers noted. 10 HIV/AIDS Beliefs—Which Ones Are True? As if waging war against an incurable virus that plagues 33 million people globally weren't enough, researchers, doctors, and public health officials continue to battle yet another elusive problem: misinformation. Here are 10 myths many have come to believe about HIV/AIDS, U.S. News reported in 2010: 1. If I had HIV, I would know. Not the case, says Kimberley Hagen, assistant director for the Center for AIDS Research at Emory University in Atlanta. About 1.1 million people in the United States are HIV-positive, and as many as 1 in 5 don't know it, estimates the CDC. Many of them feel perfectly healthy. And those who have symptoms may confuse them with run-of-the-mill flu. Denial also plays a role, say experts. "There is a universal tendency with HIV," says Hagen, to try to say, " 'This is something that will affect someone else and not me.' And so you say that you can't get it doing the things that you do—you can only get it doing the things that other people do. That may be the biggest myth." [Read more: 10 HIV/AIDS Beliefs—Which Ones Are True?] Don't Ignore the Symptoms: Sexual Problems, STDs Affect Millions Sexually transmitted diseases often are announced only by nonspecific signs (like abdominal pain and fever), meaning they may easily be mistaken for other illnesses, U.S. News reported in 2008. That's not good, say experts: Certain STDs, undiagnosed and untreated, can wreak havoc, bringing serious and even life-threatening consequences. Here's a list of nine serious STDs—and one that's just a nuisance: 1. Chlamydia. Nicknamed the "silent disease," chlamydia often does its damage unnoticed; indeed, it produces virtually no symptoms in about half the men and three quarters of the women who get it, according to the CDC. But that can mean trouble, especially for women: Infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and dangerous ectopic pregnancies can result if the infection isn't stopped with antibiotics. While men rarely experience complications, the infection can spread to the tube that shuttles sperm, leading to pain, fever, and a remote chance of sterility. Once a woman has been infected with chlamydia, she is up to five times more likely to contract HIV if exposed to the virus. To avoid serious problems, the CDC urges—at a minimum—annual screening tests for all sexually active women ages 25 and under, as well as tests for all pregnant women. A mother's untreated chlamydia infections can invade a newborn's eyes and respiratory tract, which is why it's the leading cause of pink eye and pneumonia in infants, according to the CDC. [Read more: Don't Ignore the Symptoms: Sexual Problems, STDs Affect Millions] This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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