Daily Health News Blog

Are pickles junk food? Do they count toward your daily vegetable intake? Pickling means steeping a food in a preservative, usually brine or vinegar. Typically the food is a cucumber, which is not a dynamo of nutrition to begin with. But nearly anything can be pickled, including green tomatoes, green beans, cauliflower, peppers, beets, onions and carrots. Before the advent of refrigeration and canning, pickled vegetables were a necessity of life. Among the pickle fanciers of history were Julius Caesar, Queen Elizabeth I, Napoleon and Jefferson. Any processing destroys some vitamins, particularly water-soluble ones like C and the B vitamins. But the real trouble with pickles, of course, is that the sour or dill varieties are very high in sodium. A 3 1/2-ounce sour pickle has only 11 calories but 1,200 milligrams of sodium—nearly the entire daily maximum for most people. There are low-salt versions, but they don’t taste like pickles. Sweet pickles are lower in sodium, with 450 m...

The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has released its "X-treme Eating Awards," which highlight the unhealthiest chain restaurant meals in America. Here are some of the "winners." To put the numbers into perspective, most people should eat about 2,000 calories a day and no more than 20 grams of saturated fat and 1,500 milligrams of sodium. The Cheesecake Factory Farmhouse Cheeseburger:  1,530 calories, 36 grams saturated fat and 3,210 m Applebee’s Provolone-Stuffed Meatballs with Fettuccine : 1,520 calories, 43 grams saturated fat and 3,700 milligrams sodium. Denny’s Fried Cheese Melt  (four fried mozzarella sticks with melted American cheese in a sandwich, plus fries on the side): 1,260 calories, 21 grams saturated fat and 3,010 milligrams sodium. IHOP Monster Bacon ’N Beef Cheeseburger:  1,250 calories, 42 grams saturated fat and 1,590 milligrams sodium. Sweets are hardly off the hook. A Cold Stone Creamery PB&C Shake ...

Q. You have often written about the benefits of potassium, yet you advise against potassium supplements. Why? A.  While there’s no doubt that a diet rich in potassium provides cardiovascular benefits (notably for blood pressure control and stroke prevention), that may not be true of supplements—which can actually be dangerous for many people. High-potassium foods—vegetables and fruits, along with beans, dairy products, fish, and nuts—contain many nutrients and other compounds that help account for the health benefits. Another plus for blood pressure is the fact that these foods also tend to be low in sodium. So it’s hard to say how much the benefits come from the potassium itself. In large part, the mineral may simply be a marker for a healthy diet. That may be why studies testing the effect of potassium supplements on blood pressure, for instance, have had inconsistent or unclear results. Blood levels of potassium are tightly regulated by the body, mostly by the kidney...

Each year, the month of February is filled with images celebrating Valentine’s Day. The heart-focused theme doesn’t have to end on the holiday, however. February is designated “American Heart Month” by the American Heart Association and has been for nearly 50 years. “A time to battle cardiovascular disease and educate Americans on what we can do to live heart-healthy lives,” heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, equal to 2,200 deaths per day. Nicholas “Dr. Nick” Yphantides, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Editor for TOPS Club Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), the nonprofit weight-loss support organization, offers the following recommendations to proactively promote a healthier heart – and ultimately, a better quality of life. Signs of a heart attack First, know the common signs of a heart attack and what can be done to prevent such medical emergencies. If you think you or someone you know is having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. A quick response can sa...

What drives men over 50 to pursue women is as primal as social. We’ll always be hunters. Over 50 men are able to start second families, albeit with younger women, but not the other way around. My point isn’t what’s fair or unfair, but rather that many boomer men date younger women exclusively, relegating a vast number of incredible boomer women to wonder if or when men will ever “get it” when it comes to what they’re missing in terms of dating, sex and relationships with women their age. Men and women are equally eager to respond to their sexual desires, particularly after long, self-imposed sexual dry spells in bad marriages. Women seem more controlled in terms of wanting an emotional component to become sexual again. Their goal is a relationship, and while most men want that too, they seem more reluctant to commit quickly. This is actually good, since having regrets because a man moved too quickly hurts more than being alone. I’ve known lots of boomer men who were still tryin...

(BPT) - Losing weight can dramatically improve your emotional and physical health, but it's often a slow process. Millions of American adults use dietary supplements to lose weight, choosing a range of products that claim to decrease appetite, block fat absorption or increase metabolism. But with hundreds of products on the market, how do you determine which one to choose? Here are some myths and facts about weight loss and weight-loss supplements that may help you cut through the clutter: Fiction: You can lose weight fast ... and keep it off. Fact: It takes time to lose weight safely, and keep it off. Losing a pound or two per week is actually an excellent rate of weight loss. If you lose any more than that, then it is very likely that the weight loss will not be permanent - it will come right back. Rapid weight loss is not healthy - it often means you are losing water and lean muscle mass, not the desired fat mass. Intense weight loss of more than three pounds per week over...

 An evaluation of national data by UC Davis researchers has found that extra weight is not necessarily linked with a higher risk of death. When compared to those with normal weight, people who were overweight or obese had no increased risk of death during a follow-up period of six years. People who were severely obese did have a higher risk, but only if they also had diabetes or hypertension. "There is currently a widespread belief that any degree of overweight or obesity increases the risk of death, however our findings suggest this may not be the case," said Anthony Jerant, professor of family and community medicine and lead author of the study. "In the six-year timeframe of our evaluation, we found that only severe obesity was associated with an increased risk of death, due to co-occurring diabetes and hypertension." Doctors' conversations with patients who are overweight or obese, but not severely obese, should focus on the known negative effects of ...