While there is really no “safe” level of lead, the CDC has lowered the threshold level for defining lead poisoning in children from 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood to 5 mcg/dl.

The change was made at the recommendation of a CDC advisory committee that based the new threshold on a growing number of studies indicating that even low blood lead levels can cause lifelong health effects including lower IQ. The old 10 mcg level has been in place for 20 years.

Lowering the level deemed unsafe is good news as parents who would have been told their child tested negative will now be alerted to a problem with lead. With the new lower threshold,  the number of children over the limit could double, from approximately 250,000 to 450,000.

What Now?

The CDC suggests that parents contact their local health departments for testing of paint and dust to detect lead levels. If lead is present, the CDC recommends that parents regularly wash children’s hands and toys and wet-mop floors and windowsills. Children should also not be allowed to play on bare soil.

Lead Dangers

The vast majority of lead poisoning is linked to ingestion of dust and flakes from lead-based paint, which was widely used in homes through the 1950s. It was banned for residential use in 1978, but the paint remains in many older houses. Other possible sources include older water pipes, lead dust in soil and imported toys or jewelry made of lead or coated with lead-based paint.

Even at very low levels, lead can cause irreparable cognitive impairment. Recent studies have found that third-grade test scores, which are highly correlated with high-school dropout rates, were significantly lower among children exposed to lead. Many of these children had blood levels as low as 3 or 4 mcg/dl which is even less than the new threshold.

Sources:

Health Finder

Baltimore Sun

National Center for Biotechnology Information

According to recent studies, many of us are eating more than twice the recommended amounts of sugar each day--and most don’t even realize it. That’s because most of today’s packaged foods, drinks and snacks contain added sugar, and not just a little. At the end of the day, it all adds up to sugar overload.

Moreover, this overload can easily sabotage your health. Many health experts believe that consuming too much sugar is fueling the epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and many other health problems.  

How Much is Too Much

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends limiting the amount of added sugars to no more than half of your daily “discretionary calorie allowance.” (These calories consist of fats and sugars.)

So, here’s your daily sugar limits:

• Women – No more than 100 calories per day which equals 6 teaspoons or 24 grams of sugar.
• Men – No more that 150 calories per day which equals 9 teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar.
• Children – The AHA has not established a limit but the CDC recommends no more than 5-15% of total calories should come from discretionary fats and sugars depending on the child’s age and other factors.  

Just one can of regular soda which contains eight teaspoons of sugar and 130 calories puts most of us at our limit. In fact, most added sugars in our diets come from sweetened drinks. Other culprits are candy, flavored dairy products like chocolate milk and ice cream and baked goods like cookies, cakes and pies. Researchers estimate that about 41% of added sugars in our diets come from drinks and the rest from foods.

A recent study found that the average teenage boy consumes about 362 calories a day from added sugar which equates to 17.5 percent of all calories. That’s a whopping 90.5 grams of sugar or over 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day!

Hidden Sugar

In addition to the obvious offenders, you’ll find sugar in almost all processed foods—from breakfast cereals to spaghetti sauce. However, it can be a little difficult to determine how much sugars are added to foods as current “nutrition facts” labels only list the total amount of sugar per serving. It doesn’t separate the sugars that are naturally in some foods versus sugars that are added. Luckily, there are some tricks you can use to figure out how much of total sugars is added sugars:

• Read the ingredients list and scan for any type of sugar including: molasses, honey, corn syrup (HFCS), maltose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, dextrose, galactose, or invert sugar.  As ingredients are listed in order of weight, the higher these sugars are on the list, the more sugar there is in proportion to the other ingredients.
• Look for the words “no sugar added” on the package.  Some food producers are waking up to the sugar overload problem and are offering more foods without added sugar.
• Sometimes you can also compare the same whole food to its processed cousin to determine how much sugars have been added. For example, a container of old fashioned rolled oats that lists only one ingredient—oats, has less than one gram of sugar per ¼ cup (40g). That one gram represents the natural sugars in the oatmeal.  Then look at the flavored, sweetened individual packets of oatmeal.  Some contain as much as much as 12-16 grams of sugar. Therefore, 11-15 grams have been added. That’s about three to four teaspoons of added sugar.

Tips to Cut Sugar

• Reduce or eliminate the amount of sugar added to things you eat or drink regularly like cereal, pancakes, coffee or tea. Try cutting the usual amount of sugar you add by half and wean down from there.
• Buy fresh fruits or fruits canned in water or natural juice. Avoid fruit canned in syrup, especially heavy syrup.
• Instead of adding sugar to cereal or oatmeal, add fresh fruit (try bananas, cherries or strawberries) or dried fruit (raisins, cranberries or apricots).
• When baking cookies, brownies or cakes, cut the sugar called for in your recipe by one-third to one-half. Often you won’t notice the difference.
• Instead of adding sugar in recipes, use extracts such as almond, vanilla, orange or lemon.
• Enhance foods with spices instead of sugar; try ginger, allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg.
• Substitute unsweetened applesauce for sugar in recipes (use equal amounts).

Sources:

Health Finder

Mayo Clinic

American Heart Association

WebMD

One of the best ways to safeguard your health is by including lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Study after study has shown that doing so reduces the risk of obesity and chronic disease, such as diabetes, some cancers and heart disease. Yet, according to the latest figures from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), fewer than one in four Americans are eating the recommended five servings a day.

As we begin a new year, perhaps a resolution to incorporate more fresh produce in your diet may be in order. It’s also the perfect time to break out of the “salad” rut and experiment with new recipes using winter vegetables and fruits.

Where to Find the Best Produce:

There’s no better way to enjoy fresh produce than by shopping your local farmer’s market or participating in an agricultural co-op. By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. And it simply tastes better! You can search LocalHarvest.org for a list of farmer’s markets or other sources of local produce in your area.

Seasonal Selects:

Depending on your location and climate, below are some of the seasonal choices you may find in your local farmer’s market or grocer. We’ve also included some nutrition facts and cooking tips. We challenge you to try one new vegetable each week and have fun!

Winter Vegetables:

In addition to the ubiquitous winter vegetables, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower, you may want to try something new, like:

• Winter squash – comes in many shapes and sizes and is delicious roasted, boiled, mashed or pureed and made into a soup. Excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and fiber and a good source of folate and thiamin. Store squash in a cool dry place, not in the refrigerator.
• Beets – Both the root and the greens are edible. The root can be sliced and roasted in olive oil, added to soups or boiled and mashed or pureed. Beet greens can be sautéed in olive oil and garlic much like spinach. Beets are high in folic acids.
• Parsnips - Cut parsnips into cubes and use them in soups or stews. They can be exceptional roasted or boiled or mashed and mixed with mashed potatoes for a sweeter, richer taste. Parsnips are an excellent source of vitamin C and folate.
• Kale – Young tender leaves can be eaten raw in a salad. Older stalks are best lightly steamed or sautéed in a little olive oil with your favorite seasonings. Store kale like lettuce. Wrap a damp paper towel around the base of the stalks and store in the refrigerator. Kale is an excellent source of vitamins A and C as well as calcium and iron.
• Swiss Chard – A popular Mediterranean vegetable, Swiss Chard ranks second to spinach with regard to nutritional value. It is an excellent source of vitamin K, A and C and is a good sources of magnesium, potassium, iron and dietary fiber. To cook, slice leaves and stems ½ inch wide and steam for about three minutes.
• Brussel Sprouts – Fresh brussels sprouts are vastly different than frozen ones that can be bitter and mushy. Try fresh sprouts roasted in olive oil with a dash of salt and pepper. Just four little sprouts deliver more than a day’s requirement of vitamin C and loads of fiber!

Other winter veggies to try include: artichokes, avocados, bok choy, celery root, fennel, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, radicchio, radishes, rhubarb, rutabaga, salsify, snow peas, sweet potatoes, turnips, watercress.

Winter Fruits:

In citrus growing states, oranges, grapefruits, lemons and limes are usually available through the winter months. In northern states, apples, pears and cranberries are the typical “local” fruit choices. For a change of pace give these less common fruits a try:

• Blood oranges -- These tangy citrus fruits are great in winter salads, desserts, and drinks. Just like other varieties of oranges, they're rich in vitamin C and fiber.
• Persimmons – These sweet fruits vary in texture from firm to mushy and add a tangy flavor to salads, baked goods or drinks. They’re a good source of vitamin C and fiber.
• Cranberries – High in vitamin C, cranberries make a delicious addition to rice dishes, fruit pies, muffins or breads.
• Clementines – Add clementines to salads, desserts or poultry dishes. They are an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of fiber and folate.
• Kumquats – These tiny oranges are meant to be eaten rind and all. Like most citrus fruits, they’re an excellent source of vitamin C.
• Pomegranates – In addition to drinking the juice, the seeds can be sprinkled on salads or added to rice dishes, stuffing or casseroles. They are a good source of vitamins A and C.

Enjoy the flavors of the winter harvest!

The Daily Green

Local Harvest

Food Fit

Eating Well

According to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a third of high school students eat vegetables less than once a day. This is far less than the four to five servings a day that they should be getting.

This report is probably no surprise to parents who often struggle with getting their children to eat vegetables and who feel guilty if they are unsuccessful in their attempts.

Why don’t kids like vegetables?

It may help to recognize that we're born preferring sweet tastes; we have to learn to like everything else, says Edward Abramson, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and author of It’s Not Just Baby Fat. This inborn preference is a survival mechanism as some sour or bitter substances are poisonous or inedible but very few sweet substances are harmful. Liking sweet tastes has therefore been passed down to us.

So, most of the time, our kids are not being willfully disobedient, says Abramson. They are just acting on an inherited preference for sweet foods.

Other factors can also contribute to your chances of success with vegetables. If your child was breastfed, you may have an easier time introducing vegetables to your child because breast milk varies from day to day based on mom’s diet. Since breastfed babies are exposed to different tastes, it can be less troublesome getting them to try something new. Babies who are fed a formula that always tastes basically the same may be less accepting of new tastes.

So, what can parents do?

Abramson offers a few tips to get your kids to eat their veggies without getting into a battle of wills.

• Recognize that it may take many attempts before a child will accept new food. It can take 10 or more repetitions before they may try something new. Be patient.
• Offer the vegetable and if your child refuses, don’t get upset, plead, or engage in lengthy discussions about how “vegetables are good for you.” Instead, just move on to another topic and try again on another day.
• Let your child see you enjoying a vegetable dish and eat it with enthusiasm. Curiosity will eventually get the better of them and they’ll give it a try.
• When introducing vegetables for the first time, start with sweeter vegetables like peas, carrots or sweet potatoes. Save the stronger, more bitter tastes (spinach, asparagus, and brussels sprouts) for later when eating vegetables has become routine.
• Ask your child how they would like their vegetables prepared. A sprinkling of cheese or a particular seasoning can make vegetables more appetizing.
• If you are still having trouble and your child is old enough, ask them to help you cook a meal. Your child may be less likely to refuse something that they helped make.
• You can also have your child help you plant a vegetable garden and engage them in watering, harvesting and cooking what you’ve grown.

If you are patient, persistent and set a good example, you’ll likely meet with success.

Sources:

Food Navigator

Psychology Today

Rates of obesity and insulin resistance have climbed sharply over the past 30 years. And researchers have established that the parallel rise in fast food consumption and sugary drinks has had a direct effect on obesity in America. But is this message reaching consumers? Or is it that we are so ‘hooked’ on these foods that we can’t seem to kick the habit?

“The evidence that fast food and soft drinks are drivers of the pandemic of childhood overweight and obesity is very impressive,” said Philip James, President of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. James is also one of the authors of the World Health Organization (WHO) report on the prevention and management of obesity.

Despite the warnings, every day nearly one-third of U.S. children aged 4 to 19 eat fast food, which likely packs on about six extra pounds per child per year, a study of 6,212 youngsters found. The study also noted that fast-food consumption has increased fivefold among children since 1970.

Consumption of sugary drinks has also increased dramatically. U.S. consumption of carbonated soft drinks alone, which is now around 50 gallons per person (including children) per year, has risen ten-fold since the 1940s.

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says about half the U.S. population indulges in sugary drinks on a daily basis. Boys age 2 – 19 drink the most with 70% drinking sugary drinks every day. The amount of calories this adds to our diet is staggering: Teen boys average 273 calories a day from sugary drinks, teen girls add 171 calories, men age 20-39 add 252 calories and women 138 calories. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, that’s as much as 13% of total calories or an additional 4-6 pounds per year.

How these foods make you fat

Some of the properties of fast food, including its high glycemic index and its fatty acid composition, induce hyperinsulinemia (too much insulin in the blood) and the development of insulin resistance. Insulin resistance manifests in weight gain, especially around the abdomen and can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Researchers believe that hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance may in part be responsible for leptin resistance. Leptin is a principal modulator of body weight and metabolism. Leptin resistance occurs when the body fails to transport leptin to the hypothalamus where it would normally signal the body that it is satiated or full. Without leptin, food cravings and weight gain occur because the body believes that it is hungry and goes into a state of continued fat storage and food consumption.

Furthermore, insulin resistance interferes with the “pleasure and reward” system in the brain which is controlled by dopamine and dopamine receptor sites. When dopamine signalling is impaired, we feel compelled to consume more food in order to achieve an acceptable level of satiation and reward. There is some research to support that this pattern may also lead to a form of “sugar addiction” in which increasing amounts of sugar are required to satisfy a “sweet tooth.”

Therefore, the consumption of fast food and sugary drinks affects neurochemical processes that set in motion a viscous cycle of increasing hunger without satiety or satisfaction.

Kicking the habit

Recent studies suggest that obesity is now a bigger threat to the country's health than tobacco. In the past 15 years, the smoking rate fell by more than 18 percent, but the rate of obesity jumped by 85 percent. While smoking is said to shorten your life by an average of 10 years, obesity could shorten your lifespan by as much as 13 years.

Can you live without fast food or sodas?  Follow the conversation on Facebook. 

Sources:

American Heart Association

World Public Health Nutrition Association

Beverage Daily

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

CBS News

WebMD

Good news in the fight against cancer: the CDC reports that the death rates from colon cancer continue to drop. The report credits colon cancer screening as the biggest contributing factor to the decline with two thirds of Americans now getting screened. However this leaves about 22 million people still not being screened for the disease.

Between 2003 and 2007, the number of new cases of colon cancer fell from 52.3 per 100,000 people to 45.4 per 100,000, according to the CDC report. That amounted to 66,000 fewer cases of the disease, which is the second most deadly form of cancer after lung cancer.

The death rate from colon cancer dropped over the same time from 19 per 100,000 people to 16.7 per 100,000. That resulted in 32,000 fewer deaths. Deaths were cut most in states with the highest rates of screening.

The report suggests that these numbers could be even better if more people were screened. Although colon cancer screening has increased dramatically—from 52 percent in 2002 to 65 percent in 2010--there is a concern that the rate may be leveling off. The CDC says that a doctor’s recommendation is key to encouraging patients to get screened.

Currently, colon cancer screening is recommended for men and women starting at age 50, earlier if there is a family history of the disease. The methods for screening include:

• Fecal occult blood test every year.
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy every five years plus a fecal occult blood test every three years.
• Colonoscopy every 10 years if the test was negative.

"Colon cancer can be prevented," said CDC Director Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. "Screening is highly effective." Speaking from personal experience, Frieden’s own colonoscopy found four polyps that were removed before they became cancerous.

Source:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

If you live in a mosquito-prone part of the country, we probably don’t have to tell you it’s prime mosquito season. Mosquitoes are more than just a biting nuisance. One bite from a Culex mosquito infected with the West Nile virus can cause mild to severe illness, and in rare cases, even death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers this advice to avoid these blood suckers:

• Use repellent when you go outdoors. You should use repellent even if you're only going outside for a few minutes - it only takes one bite to get West Nile virus.

The CDC recommends the use of products containing active ingredients which have been registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use as repellents applied to skin and clothing. Of the active ingredients registered with the EPA, two have demonstrated a higher degree of efficacy. Products containing these active ingredients typically provide longer-lasting protection than others:

1. DEET (Chemical Name: N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide or N,N-diethly-3-methyl-benzamide)
2. Picaridin (KBR 3023, Chemical Name: 2-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperidinecarboxylic acid 1-methylpropyl ester )

Products containing these active ingredients typically provide reasonably long-lasting protection:

1. Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or PMD (Chemical Name: para-Menthane-3,8-diol) the synthesized version of oil of lemon eucalyptus
2. IR3535 (Chemical Name: 3-[N-Butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid, ethyl ester)

For those who prefer natural ingredients to synthetic chemicals, oil of lemon eucalyptus, a plant based repellent, is an EPA approved and effective option. In two recent studies, oil of lemon eucalyptus provided protection similar to repellents with low concentrations of DEET. Natural insect repellents containing oil of lemon eucalyptus are commercially available, or you can mix up a batch of your own with this recipe:

Natural Bug Repellent

1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup witch hazel (or cheap vodka)

5 drops of lemon eucalyptus essential oil

Empty spray bottle, 8 oz minimum capacity

Pour all the liquid ingredients into the spray bottle. Shake the bottle to mix the liquids. The repellent can be used on your skin or in the yard. Unlike store-bought sprays, this repellent is not water-proof or sweat-proof so you'll need to reapply as necessary. Unfortunately, it will not repel ticks, so you might have to use a commercial product with DEET if ticks are a concern.

• Wear long pants and long sleeves while outdoors. Apply permethrin or another EPA-registered repellent to clothing, as mosquitoes may bite through thin fabric. (Remember: don't use permethrin on skin.)
• Avoid being outdoors during peak mosquito activitiy. Many of the mosquitoes that carry the West Nile virus bite between dusk and dawn. If you're outside during these hours pay special attention to using repellent.
• Use mosquito netting over infant carriers.
• Reduce the number of mosquitoes in your area by getting rid of containers with standing water that provide breeding places for the mosquitoes.

And if you’ve ever wondered why you are on the mosquito menu and the person right next to you is not... this video from Discovery News sheds light on research that may hold clues as to why mosquitoes find some folks tastier than others.

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

DIY Life

Municipal water systems are tricky. It's next to impossible not to use them, and they can be risky, considering you may be showering with bacteria-laden water that harms folks with compromised immune systems. Unfortunately, the risk of illness may be more widespread for many children and adults using public swimming pools, according to a CDC report.

Based on a review of more than 120,000 routine public pool inspections conducted in 13 states two years ago, 12 percent of pools (some 13,500) were closed immediately due to serious health violations, of which most were related to faulty disinfectant (12,917) or pH levels (10,148). And, nearly 74,000 of those pool inspections identified at least one violation.

The variety of pool systems cited most often by the CDC for safety violations (those that were shut down or had disinfectant problems) may surprise you:

1. Child care facility pools: 17.2 percent

2. Hotel/motel pools: 15.3 percent

3. Kiddie/wading pools: 13.5 percent

4. Interactive fountains: 12.6 percent

5. Apartment/condo pools: 12.4 percent

Learn more about diseases that can harm your gut, skin, ears and respiratory system and how to avoid them by reviewing CDC data on recreational water illness.

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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Vol. 59, No. 19, pp. 582-587, May 21, 2010

healthfinder.gov May 20, 2010

CDC Online Newsroom May 20, 2010