Healthful Herbs

High-Powered Salads

Fresh herbs not only add zest to any salad, they also boost cell-preserving antioxidant protection. To boost the nutrition in any bowl and belly, toss in some sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme, cumin and/or fresh ginger. These readily complement veggies known to pack a strong antioxidant punch, such as artichoke, beetroot, broccoli, garlic, leek, onion, radish and spinach. Crunchy red chicory leaves intermingled with romaine are good for some antioxidant flavonoids.

The right dressing presents extra opportunity to increase the antioxidant quotient for a super salad, and extra-virgin olive oil delivers the most. For a healthful and low-fat alternative, try apple or wine vinegars.

Source: www.EatingWell.com

Mighty Tuber
Dig this End-of-Summer Treat
A Labor Day spread just isn’t the same without the family’s favorite recipe for a classic potato salad. Made from an ancient vegetable long known to support bowel health, a study published this summer in Chemistry and Industry now suggests that potatoes also benefit the immune system.

Spanish scientists found that pigs fed large amounts of raw potato starch had decreased levels of white blood cells like leucocytes and lymphocytes. They point out that this generally indicates an absence of inflammation or disease in the body.

Although humans don’t usually eat raw potatoes, they consume these tubers in many other forms. The researchers concluded that a diet rich in starch consumption, especially from cold potatoes, not only may reduce the risk of bowel cancer and irritable bowel syndrome, but also may boost overall health.

H2O Overdose
Balancing Liquids Intake during Exercise

A new wave of experts maintains that many of us drink too much water and too many sports drinks while exercising. Part of their job is to study water metabolism rates in athletes engaged in endurance sports like marathons, triathlons and long distance cycling. And they believe that the current drinking practices they see among all types of workout enthusiasts could put some individuals at risk for potentially lethal water intoxication.

They say this serious condition, also known as exercise-induced hyponatremia, can be prevented if people respect their personal "thirst meter" and undertake a sweat test during workouts to see how much water they actually need to replace lost body fluids. And they note that popular notions of healthy fluid replacement are not based on factual data.

Further clarification comes in understanding that sports drinks are basically water with a few additives, such as sodium, potassium and carbohydrates in the form of sugars. Researchers point out that it’s incorrect to assume that drinking sports drinks instead of water will protect an athlete from becoming hyponatremic.

Source: Georgetown University Medical Center, June 2007

Strange Science
Charting Health by the Stars

Virgos tend to vomit more than others during pregnancy. Pisces may have an increased risk of heart failure. Libras seem more prone to fracturing their pelvis. Too weird to be true? Perhaps not, reports Peter Austin, a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grantee.

He was part of a small research team at the Institute for Clinical Evaluation Sciences in Toronto who surveyed hospital visits in Ontario, Canada, to compare illnesses across astrological signs. "We did this study to prove a larger point—the more we look for patterns, the more likely we are to find them," says Austin. "Replace astrological signs with another characteristic, such as gender or age, and immediately your mind starts to form explanations for the observed associations."

Lovely Acts
Uncovering Altruism’s Inner Workings

Altruism has long puzzled neuroscientists and evolutionary biologists. They query: "If the human brain has evolved to maximize its owner’s survival, then why are we motivated to help others—even at sometimes great personal cost?" Two new studies shed light on this joy of giving by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to observe associated brain activity.

Researchers found that as subjects played computer games that enabled them to earn money for real-life charities, their fMRI images revealed activity in the same brain areas that govern selfish longing and rewards. They discerned that to function altruistically we need to see that the people we are helping have goals, and that our actions will have consequences for them.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, May 2007

Baby Safe
Glass Baby Bottles Return

Sales of glass baby bottles have soared as parents respond to a recent Environment California report that five leading brands of plastic baby bottles leach the toxin bisphenol A into liquids coming into contact with them. Though the plastics in question have been commonly used in everything from baby bottles to toddler toys for 25 years, parents aren’t taking any chances.

Environmental health advocates recommend that consumers avoid bottles and food containers made of clear, hard polycarbonate plastic, which may be labeled #7 or PC on the underside, as well as polyvinyl chloride, which contain phthalates and may be labeled #3 or PVC.

Instead, advocates recommend parents choose bottles, cups and food containers made of plastics #1, #2 or #4 (polyethylene) and softer opaque #5 (polypropylene). In any case, avoid washing plastic dishware with harsh dishwashing soap and hot water.

Better yet, go for glass or stainless steel. Glass may be breakable, but it worked for earlier generations, and just makes more sense.

Source: Links.SFGate.com/ZCM

Fine-Tuning Minds on the Cushion

A 2007 study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that subjects who meditated were better able to control and sharpen their attention. Researchers examined these effects during an intensive three-month Vipassana meditation practice focused on reducing mental distraction and improving sensory awareness.

Instant Gratification & IQ

Whoa. It seems that a desire to be satisfied right now is linked with lower intelligence. When 1,000 people in Germany were given the choice of receiving 100 euros today or 150 euros a year from now, those with a higher IQ chose to wait for the higher return. It’s the first time research has shown a relationship between intelligence and patience.

Source: University of Bonn, July 2007

Fine-Tuning Minds on the Cushion

A 2007 study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that subjects who meditated were better able
to control and sharpen their attention. Researchers examined these effects during an intensive three-month Vipassana meditation practice focused on reducing mental distraction and improving sensory awareness.

Stay Balanced
Pitfalls of a Low-Fat Diet

New research shows that drastically reducing caloric intake and minimizing fats in our diet could negatively impact both our emotions and behavior. A study of mice published in a recent issue of Biological Psychiatry found that withdrawing these mammals from their preferred high-fat or high-carbohydrate diets showed increased anxiety and changes in their brain that indicated higher stress levels. This in turn led to significant changes in the animals’ usual behavior.

Researchers suspect that a related reason that human diets usually fail and can’t be successfully followed for long periods is that we’re not "programmed" to go against our so-called preferred diet. Meals that include all food groups apparently sustain us on physiological, psychological and emotional levels.

Source: Elsevier Health Sciences, April 2007

Step Aside
Putting Little Brains to Work

Evidence that toddlers learn new words more easily, and retain them longer, when they are allowed to figure out the meaning themselves could color the future of teaching. Johns Hopkins psychology student Meredith Brinster’s study of how young children learn to attach the names of objects to the objects themselves determined that, as a learning strategy, independently inferring word meaning is more effective for a child than direct instruction, in which an adult points to and names an unfamiliar object. Brinster explains that with the inference method the toddler uses reason (such as a process of elimination) to mentally fasten an unfamiliar word to an unfamiliar object. Evidently, it sticks.

Source: Johns Hopkins University, March 2007