Health Quiz

Have you heard of the RealAge quiz?  It's on-line and it asks you to answer questions about your health history and life-style.  After you're done, it projects your "real age" based on those answers.  It's fun but RealAge sells your answers and e-mail address to drug companies.  Those companies than use the information to target advertisements to people who have certain diseases, sometimes before they have been diagnosed by a doctor.  

A better quiz is Your Disease Risk.  For this site, you click on a disease and it asks you targeted questions to assess your risk.  Once done, it tells you your risk and says what you're doing well and how you can improve.  It even makes suggestions on the type of food to eat!

Next Week is Diet Week

I am addicted to celebrity gossip.  I love reading about their troubles and seeing the fashion.  This week, my fascination with all things celebrity turns to photoshop.  Most celebrities keep a personal photoshop technician on their staff and make sure that any photos that are released are first 'touched up' by their photoshop technician.  Below, you can see an example of Faith Hill on the cover of the July 2007 Redbook.

In the before picture, Faith is a beautiful, thin, (then) 39 year-old woman.  In the photoshopped cover picture, she is much thinner and younger looking.  Look at the headlines, Redbook wants to tell us about "The New Skinny Pills".  Have you ever heard of a pill that was healthy and provided long-term weight-lost?  I haven't.  How are we, who don't have personal trainers and photoshop technicians, supposed to achieve what the media tells us is beauty?

We can't.  All that we can hope for is maintaining a healthy weight for our height by eating healthy foods.  Now comes the tricky part; what are healthy foods and what diet do we follow?  The New England Journal of Medicine published a study yesterday (here) which focused on comparing three major diets, Atkins (low carbs), Dean Ornish (low-fat) and Mediterranean (low animal protein).  The diets were randomly assigned to the study participants and all reduced calorie consumption but none of the diets had less than 1,200 calories per day.  After two years, all of the participants lost and regained the same of weight regardless of the diet they were on (13 pounds after six months and 9 pounds after two years).  The lesson is that the best way to lose weight and to keep it off is to reduce your calorie consumption by following a diet that you enjoy.

Next week, we hope to shed some light on all this diet stuff for all of you.  

Really? Chicken Soup Cure for Colds

THE FACTS

Like ice for a burn or a lozenge for a cough, a cup of hot tea is an age-old balm for sniffles, sneezing and stuffiness.

Hot liquids, it is said, help loosen secretions in the chest and sinuses, making them easier to expel and ultimately clearing up congestion.

The fluids are also meant to reverse dehydration.

But only recently have scientists examined whether the effect is real. In December, researchers at the Common Cold Center at Cardiff University in Britain looked at whether hot beverages relieved the symptoms of 30 people suffering from the flu or common cold any better than drinks at room temperature. The found that the contrast was marked.

"The hot drink provided immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough, sneezing, sore throat, chilliness and tiredness," they reported, "whereas the same drink at room temperature only provided relief from symptoms of runny nose, cough and sneezing."

While this was the first study to look specifically at the effects of hot drinks on cold and flu symptoms, others have looked at hot foods like chicken soup and had similar results.

Chicken soup also contains cold-fighting compounds that help dissolve mucus in the lungs and suppress inflammation.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Research confirms that a hot beverage can reduce congestion and other cold and flu symptoms.

From The New York Times, "REALLY?; Hot liquids can ease symptoms of a cold or flu.", Anahad O'Connor, January 27, 2009.

Fried Plantains (Platanos Maduros)

Plantains are larger, starcher cousins of bananas and are the staple food in parts of West Africa and the Caribbean.  Plantains are uglier, longer and have tougher, thicker skins than bananas.  Above on the left, are bananas and on the right is a plantain.  Plantains can be bought at most grocery stores.  Many smaller corner stores that cater to Caribbean or West African residents sell plantains too.  

When they're green and under-ripe, they have a similar taste and be cooked like potatoes.  As they become riper, they become sweeter .  Over-ripe (black), they can be fried or baked into a delicious dessert.  

To fry plantains, peel the plantain and cut into one inch slices.  Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat.  Once the oil is warm, add the plantains.  When the edges of the plantains brown (like on the left) they're done!  You can season with lime juice, pepper or salt if you'd like.

To bake plantains, heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Peel and slice plantains in half length-wise.  Place in a greased pan and sprinkle with oil and a little salt if you'd like.  Bake for 10 minutes.

Enjoy!