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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

contents. 20

DECEMBER 2012 VOLUME XII, № 12

FITNESS

EXERCISE MAKES EVERYTHING MERRY AND BRIGHT! Exercise and happiness are directly linked. Don't skip the sweat sessions during the festive season!

10 MUST-KNOW BASELINE WORKOUT TIPS To best ensure you won’t be worse for the wear from your exercise regime, follow these 10 fundamental fitness tips.

58 38 30 46

WELLNESS 8

SCARY! SUPERBUG SOLUTIONS Forget aliens attacking from outer space. Superbugs (a.k.a antibiotic-resistant bacteria) are already here, defeating our best weapons.

GRIN TO WIN

There is an impressive field of research devoted to facial expressions and how they affect our lives. A smile, or lack thereof, influences how a person is perceived and treated by others, and affects general well-being.

50 58 46 34 22 30

SUCCULENT SUPERSTITIONS Sure, the coming year’s new diet might be backed by the latest scientific research, but that’s not to say some old-world wisdom can’t influence your dining the night of January 1.

SEASON OF GIVING YOU SCROOGE, YOU LOSE In a recent study, toddlers were given treats, and then asked to give part of their treats away. Instead of greed, the toddlers displayed selflessness, gladly giving away their treats, and were actually happier to give treats than to receive them.

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

Letter from the Editor

written by John A. Anderson

Healthy MAGAZINE

Merry Bright If you wonder how to help others change and improve their life – the answer is simply to change and improve yourself first.

took a plane the other day, (to Dallas for a family wedding, if you must know) and for once I actually noted that silly spiel they give before pulling away from the gate.

“In case of an emergency, first secure your own oxygen mask and if you have children with you, then secure their masks.” My first thought was, ‘how selfish.’ Then I thought about it a bit longer. Take care of yourself first... then assist your children. It’s actually pretty valuable advice. If you wonder how to help others change in life – a spouse, a child, a staff member, etc – the answer is simply to change yourself first. The key to helping others is to help yourself first. The best contribution we can make to someone else is our own personal development. If I become better educated, a better communicator, pursue better health, think of what that will do for my abilities as a father... as a husband... as a business colleague. I came home from that trip and looked at my sleeping family and thought, ‘The best gift I can give to you, really, is my ongoing personal development.’ I considered how I could get better, get stronger, become smarter. I think we should all heed the philosophy of the flight attendant. If we, as parents are okay, the kids have an excellent chance of being okay. If we work on our personal development as

adults; that’s the best gift we can give to our children. Since it's the holiday season, my goal is to be Merry & Bright! To make this a fun, happy, connected season of memories. If I learn to be Merry & Bright—to create happiness for myself and my family—my children will have an excellent chance of being happy. If I create a unique lifestyle for myself and my spouse, that will be a great example to serve my children. Selfdevelopment enables us to serve, to be more valuable to those around us; for our kids... our businesses... our colleagues... our communities... our churches. This magazine is all about developing a successful lifestyle and improving our health – keys to our ongoing success, and to our attracting opportunities. In other words, if you keep refining all the parts of your character—yourself, your health, your happiness, etc.—so that you become an attractive person to the marketplace - you’ll attract opportunity. Opportunity will then begin to seek you out. Your reputation will begin to precede you and people will want to be around you. All of that possibility is created by adopting the philosophy of the flight attendant: Breathe first, then help others breathe. Remember, health, happiness, and success are things you cultivate by continually working on your own personal development; you magnify it by passing it on.

Healthy Holidays! HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

DECEMBER 2012 VOLUME XII, № 12 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John A. Anderson | john@healthy-mag.com MEDICAL DIRECTORS

Steven N. Gange, M.D. Lane C. Childs, M.D. PUBLISHER

Kenneth J. Shepherd | ken@healthy-mag.com DESIGN EDITORS

Phillip Chadwick | Kelsey Jones design@healthy-mag.com MANAGING EDITORS

Michael Richardson | Emma Penrod editor@healthy-mag.com ONLINE EDITOR

Ashley Whiting | ashley@healthy-mag.com MARKETING DIRECTOR

Heather Hooke | heather@healthy-mag.com DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Sandy Wise | 801.369.6139

CIRCULATION MANAGER

Ron Fennell | distribution@healthy-mag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Gail Morrissey, Jessica Hagy, Darrin F. Hansen, David Joachim, Douglas H. Jones, Colette Bouchez, Lisa Mathews, Wayne Larsen, Stuart B. Porter, Mark Saunders, Steven E. Warren

Healthy Magazine 256 Main St., Suite F l Alpine, UT 84004 (801) 369.6139 l info@healthy-mag.com To be included in our free online directory, please e-mail your contact information to directory@healthy-mag.com PLEASE NOTE: The content in this publication is meant to increase reader awareness of developments in the health and medical field and should not be construed as medical advice or instruction on individual health matters, which should be obtained directly from a health professional. The opinions expressed by the authors and advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher. Call for reprint permission.

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

Christmas

is TRADITION.

Every year you promise yourself that you’ll stay calm and truly enjoy the season, yet when the most enjoyable activities are crowded into an already tight schedule, they often conflict and overwhelm. Consider your over-inflated “to do” list. Are there tasks on that list you could do without? Try this easy way to find out.

Merry & Bright

t rit

I GA

I RR

Simplify Season the

Make a second list titled “IT WOULDN’T BE CHRISTMAS WITHOUT ...” Write down all the traditions, foods and activities that make the holidays special for your family. Now, compare the lists. Anything not on both lists is expendable, a task or event you can decide to do on a selective basis — only if you have the time and only if you want to. So this year, make the gingerbread house with your kids, but don’t host a neighborhood party. Next year you can throw the party and skip something else. If it’s your turn to host the family holiday dinner, start a new tradition and simplify. You do the main course, and ask each family member to bring something for the dinner.

Christmas

is FAMILY.

In most families women are the holiday planners, organizers, hosts, decorators, shoppers, and bakers. Often these Christmas magicians don’t realize how much extra work they’re doing, because they don’t really think of it as work until they’re exhausted. If you choose to do it all yourself, you have no right to complain. But if you honestly want to share the joy of the season with your family, ask for their help and cooperation.

Have your Christmas and ENJOY it too.

You love the holidays, but in the midst of what should be the most joyous of seasons, you’re overwhelmed and frazzled. You have too much to do, in too little time. Gifts, cards, baking, decorations, pageants, parties, family get-togethers, and the list goes on. But Christmas is not about being in a constant state of panic, fearing you’ll never get everything done. Nor are the holidays about

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

how many gifts are under the perfectly decorated tree. They’re not about having so much to do that there is little time left to spend with your spouse and your kids. And they’re not about feeling that you have to do it, or it just won’t be Christmas. In the rush to do it all, the real opportunities and meaning of Christmas can be lost and forgotten.

Children as young as 2 years old can stand on a stool and help decorate and bake cookies. Older children can help trim the tree and wrap gifts. Whatever they do may not always be up to your standards, but it enhances the enjoyment of the holiday for everyone, and is less work for you. Instead of overloading your schedule with holiday activities that crowd out what you’d really like to be doing, just say no. You don’t have to accept every holiday party invitation. Take a break from the holiday rush by going on a family

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adventure to a museum, art gallery or stay home to watch a Christmas video as a family.

Christmas

is GIVING.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without gifts under the tree, but with a little planning ahead you can save time and aggravation. Be realistic when the hand-knitted scarf for Aunt Mary is only half made. Put it away, and finish it for next year. This year, buy her a book. Shop with a list of gift ideas. Avoid the lunch-hour rush and weekends, if possible. Not only are stores overly crowded, it’s almost impossible to find a parking space. Plan your shopping route so you don’t backtrack and run from store to store. Request a box when you purchase a gift. Many small gift and toy stores offer free gift wrapping. If you shop through a catalog or over the Internet, gifts can be gift-wrapped and sent directly to the recipient. Have an idea for a special, unique gift for your spouse? Before you leave home, call stores to see if they have it.

Christmas is MEMORIES.

No other holiday is so strongly etched in the mind of a child, yet gifts are not the part of Christmas a child remembers most. Giving them an expensive video game is easy, but years later the child remembers when they went with you to see the lighting of your town’s Christmas tree, or when you read T’was the Night Before Christmas before bedtime on Christmas Eve. Think back to your own Christmas memories, and you’ll probably recall things like baking cookies with Grandma, stringing popcorn and cranberries for tree decorations, and singing in the church choir that mean Christmas to you.

Christmas is JOY.

At least once a day, stop what you’re doing and do something that brings you joy—it may be doing something special for your spouse, your kids, or yourself. Sip a cup of herbal tea. Read to your kids. Look at old Christmas pictures. Take a walk with your spouse. Listen to holiday music. Sit quietly and enjoy your Christmas tree. After 20 minutes you should feel refreshed and relaxed—ready once again to face the hectic holiday pace.

Christmas

is CONNECTING. Do you dislike sending Christmas cards? Don’t do it this year, or simplify. Cut your list down. Don’t send cards to close friends and relatives to whom you are giving gifts. Send cards only to those you don’t see or hear from very often and don’t want to lose contact with. Yes, it’s a nice touch to add a note to every card, but it certainly isn’t necessary. In fact, instead of sending a card to an old friend or relative who lives far away, pick up the phone and wish them a Merry Christmas.

Christmas

is CELEBRATION. Take time to remember the true meaning of Christmas. Each year we look forward to the holidays as a joyous time of peace and reflection. But it’s hard to remember what’s important when we’re all caught up in a seemingly endless round of errands and activities. What truly matters the most is the people we love. The things we do for the holidays are a way to express that love. Enjoy each activity for itself instead of thinking about what is left to do.

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

THE DREAM DIET

STUDIES FIND:

Lose Weight While You Sleep?

C A N M O R E S L E E P R E A L LY H E L P U S C O N T R O L O U R W E I G H T ? T H R E E T O P E X P E RT S E X P L O R E T H E P O S S I B I L I T I E S .

A Clear Way to Boost Your Metabolism

Lack of water can slow the metabolic rate, says John Acquaviva, PhD, assistant professor of health and human performance at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. “Since water is the body’s most important nutrient, the liver will turn its concentration to water retention instead of doing other duties such as burning fat.” WebMD 2011

Wait for Weights

Maximize your calorie burn by tackling cardio before weights. Cardio workouts burn the most calories, but weight training extends your calorie burn long after working out. Doing cardio first helps ensure that you achieve the maximum calorie burn, and ending your workout with a strength-training session helps ensure your postexercise metabolism stays high.

ose weight while you sleep. It sounds like a late night infomercial, but substantial medical evidence suggests dreamy links between sleep and weight. “One of the more interesting ideas that…is now gaining momentum is the appreciation of the fact that sleep and sleep disruption do remarkable things to the body, including possibly influencing our weight,” says David Rapoport, MD, associate professor and director of the Sleep Medicine Program at the NYU School of Medicine. The hormones leptin and ghrelin recently brought sleep’s affect on appetite into focus. Both hormones influence our appetite, and studies show that our amount of sleep influences their production. If you have ever experienced a sleepless night followed by a day of ravenous eating, you know the workings of leptin and ghrelin.

How Sleep Affects Your Hormones

Leptin and ghrelin work as a “checks and balances” system to control hunger and fullness, explains

Michael Breus, PhD, a faculty member of the Atlanta School of Sleep Medicine and director of The Sleep Disorders Centers of Southeastern Lung Care in Atlanta. The gastrointestinal tract stimulates appetite with ghrelin, while fat cells produce leptin to signal satiety. “When you don’t get enough sleep,” Breus explains, “it drives leptin levels down, which means you don’t feel as satisfied after you eat. Lack of sleep also causes ghrelin levels to rise, which means your appetite is stimulated, so you want more food.” This combination sets the stage for overeating and weight gain.

Those Who Sleep Less Often Weigh More

At the University of Chicago, doctors measured levels of leptin, ghrelin, hunger and appetite in 12 healthy men who experienced two days of sleep deprivation followed by two days of extended sleep. With little sleep, leptin levels decreased and ghrelin levels increased. Not surprisingly, the men’s appetite also increased proportionally. Their desire for

high carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods increased by 45 percent. Even more provocative, in the joint research project between Stanford and the University of Wisconsin, 1,000 volunteers reported the number of hours they slept each night. Doctors then measured their levels of ghrelin and leptin and charted their weight. Those who slept less than eight hours a night not only had lower levels of leptin and higher levels of ghrelin, but they also had a higher level of body fat. Doctors found the correlation that those who slept the fewest hours per night weighed the most. Most experts agree that if you want to lose weight, a good night’s sleep won’t hurt, particularly if you get six hours of sleep or less a night. You may just discover that you aren’t as hungry and that you have fewer cravings for sugary, calorie-dense foods.

Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2011

Sleep it Off

Skimping on sleep may add inches to your waistline. Your blood levels of leptin, a hormone that acts as an appetite suppressant, appear to decrease when you experience sleep deprivation, according to new research. Keep leptin levels high and curb overeating and weight gain by getting at least 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2010 Condensed from the original article by: Colette Bouchez, MD WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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THE NEWS NUMBERS, STUDIES, AND STATS

FATAL FOODS? We have a love-hate relationship with food. It probably started somewhere in our childhood with the mandate that mushrooms, peas and carrots must be finished before we could even think about dessert. We generally like or dislike certain foods based on taste or texture, and yet we give little thought to the suspected harmful, cancer-causing (or preventing) ingredients found in many of our conveniently packaged foods. Hopefully we've grown up a lot, and recognize the potential health hazards that lurk in many of the smartlymarketed foods lining our grocery store aisles. Here are a few worth reconsidering:

AR TIFICIAL SWEETENERS

The Concern: Ironically, there's a lot of evidence that suggest using artificial sweeteners, which have zero calories, is just as bad for your waistline as using regular, high-calorie sugar. For instance, research from the University of Texas has found that mice fed the artificial sweetener aspartame had higher blood sugar levels (which can cause you to overeat) than mice on an aspartame-free diet. Not only are they bad for your health, scientists have detected artificial sweeteners in treated wastewater, posing unknown risks to fish and other marine life. Plus, as Rodale says, "They're unnatural, nonorganic, taste horrible, and lead to all sorts of bad health consequences, false expectations, and short-term strategic thinking."

ALMOST ALL FAST-FOOD

The Concern: It isn't just about food-it's about food mentality. Social isues of factory farming and the industrialization of our food aside, fast food typically is loaded with genetically engineered corn, food dyes, artificial sweeteners, and other bad actors in the food supply. The type of farming that supports this type of food business relies on harmful chemicals that not only threaten human health, but also soil health.

The Solution: Instead, learn to cook! Make shopping and cooking your social endeavor. You might be surprised to find that paying extra up front for a pasture-raised chicken can be cheaper than buying prepared fast-food chicken. For instance, cooking a chicken and then boiling down the bones for a rich, disease-fighting stock can yield up to three meals for a family!

The Solution:

Refined white sugar isn't any healthier, but you can replace it with small amounts of nutritional sweeteners, including honey, blackstrap molasses, and maple syrup, all of which have high levels of vitamins and minerals.

Source: Rodale.com / Used with permission

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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DIET SODA

The Concern: Anything

BUTTER-FLAVORED M IC ROWAVE POPCORN

The Concern: Diacetyl, a chemical used in butter flavoring, is used in a lot of fake butter flavorings, despite the fact that the chemical is so harmful to factory workers that it's known to cause an occupational disease called "popcorn lung," Scranton says. After news of the chemical got out to the popcorn-eating public, companies started replacing diacetyl with another additiveâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which can actually turn into diacetyl under certain conditions, she adds. Neither chemical is disclosed on microwave-popcorn bags because the exact formulations of flavorings are considered trade secrets. "It's a classic example of the need for better chemical regulation and improved transparency on the chemicals used in our food and other household products," she says.

The Solution:

Make your own popcorn using real butter. Pop it on the stovetop in a pot, or go an easier route: Put a small handful of kernels into a brown paper lunch bag and stick the bag in the microwave. The kernels will pop just like those fake-butterflavored kernels in standard microwave popcorn bags. When they're done, pour some melted organic butter over them. "Makes pretty good popcorn at a fraction of the cost!" Scranton says.

containing chemically compounded artificial sweeteners such as sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame K, and neotame, among others is suspect, if not down-right scary. So much research strongly suggests that when metabolized, these sweeteners can cause health-related issues and problems related to metabolism and weight gain, neurological diseases, joint pain, digestive problems, headaches, depression, inflammatory bowel disease, chemical toxicity, and cancer, among others. Soda is just so commonplace in our society that it's hard to avoid.

The Solution:

But there are varieties made with natural sweeteners. If you're really looking to make an improvement, switch to green tea in its many varieties. Or, better yet, load a tall glass of water with ice and frozen berries and lemons/limes. Sip that throughout the day, or even bring it to the movies. D-lish, and others will ask you where you got it!

FOOD DYES

The Concern: Health advocates have tried for years to get the Food and

directly affect women.

Drug Administration to ban food dyes, based on small studies linking them to hyperactivity in children and cancer in animals, and that's one reason Jacobson avoids them. Red 3 has caused cancer in lab rats, and Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 may contain cancer-causing contaminants. But mainly, he says, he avoids them on principle. "I just don't like eating synthetic chemicals and the oftentimes synthetic foods in which they're used." His group criticizes companies that use food dyes to make foods appear healthier than they are and to replace truly healthy ingredientsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in a recent report on the nutritional quality of fruit juices, the center noted that Tropicana Twister Cherry Berry Blast contains no berry and cherry juice but lots of the artificial dye, Red 40.

AND, by Michael F. Jacobson, PhD, executive director of

The Solution:Read labels anytime you're buying a pre-packaged food.

Written by Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research at Women's Voices for the Earth, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental health issues that

the Center for Science in the Public Interest

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Food dyes can crop up in some really unexpected places, even healthy foods like cheese and yogurt.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

\ \ / /

FITNESS

“I exercise so I can eat whatever I want.”

Have you heard someone say this, or is this something you rationalize? Is it true? If you exercise every day, could you eat whatever you wanted? I will break it down for you. Let’s take a few of our favorite foods and see how they compare to exercise. 5oz Cold Stone Cake Batter Ice Cream = Swimming laps for 30 minutes, non-stop.

1 slice of Dominos Pepperoni Pizza = Jogging on treadmill for 2.5 miles.

1 Sonic Drive-In Cheese Burger = Stair Climber for 60 minutes.

s you can see, we can consume calories a lot faster than we can burn them. Exercise alone is inadequate for weight loss; you must cut calories from the diet as well. Don’t get caught up telling yourself because you worked out today you can have that piece of cheesecake. Combining exercise and lowering your calorie intake is an effective method. One pound of fat equals 3,500 calories, if you burn 500 a day in exercise and cut 500 calories from your diet, you would be at a 1,000 calorie deficit a day, equaling 2 pounds of weight loss per week.

pound of fat equals 3,500 calories

WRITTEN BY WAYNE LARSEN

“

I’m not overweight. I’m just nine inches too short. -Shelley Winters

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

”

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©Bliznetsov | Dreamstime.com

fact: One

I have one more for you; researchers at the University of Virginia have determined it takes 250,000 crunches to burn 1 pound of fat. So if you did 100 crunches every day for 7 years you could burn one pound of fat. Start crunching today, or just stop eating those Crunch Bars.

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

\ \ / / FITNESS

THE WORKOUT INPUT, INSPIRATION AND PERSPIRATION

10 MUST-KNOW BASELINE WORKOUT TIPS Exercise is a well-proven way to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight, boost energy and even enhance mood. However, if done improperly injuries may result – some with life-long consequences. To best ensure you won’t be worse for the wear from your exercise regime, follow these 10 fundamental fitness tips:

TIP NO. 1

Don’t over do it.

Exercising in moderation – not excess – is key. Before beginning any program, consult with your doctor to ensure the desired workout activities are safe and appropriate for you.

TIP NO. 2

TIP NO. 3

Warm up before stretching.

Warming up prepares your body for physical activity. It increases your heart rate and blood flow while also loosening up your muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, also reducing risk of stretching-related injury.

TIP NO. 4

Schedule “off days.”

Days of rest will allow the muscles, tendons and joints in your body to properly recuperate and ready themselves for future workouts.

TIP NO. 5

Drink water liberally.

When working out, drink enough water to prevent dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke – particularly when exercising outdoors. Staying hydrated will help you perform better.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

TIP NO. 6

Don’t push it.

Rest when you feel fatigued, dizzy, short of breath or experience soreness or pain. “Pushing through” may do more harm than good.

Small changes, big results.

TIP NO. 7

Cool down.

Slow your motions and lessen the intensity of your movements for at least 10 minutes before you stop exercising completely to bring your heart rate and body temperature back to normal levels.

TIP NO. 8

Stretch cautiously.

Perform stretches slowly and carefully until you reach a point of muscle tension, holding for 10-20 seconds and then slowly releasing. Never stretch to the point of pain, always maintaining control and never “bouncing.”

Source: Slimtree.com

exercising. Don’t let your mind wander. Stay focused on the task at hand.

More tips from local experts at Healthy-Mag.com.

TIP NO. 9

Wear proper attire.

Properly fitting shoes and clothes appropriate for the activity, environment and climate are safety essentials. Removing jewelry is also recommended.

TIP NO. 10

Set reasonable goals.

Set challenging, attainable goals. Once realized, set new ones. Continue to raise the bar so you don’t plateau and keep making progress toward your goal.

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\ \ / / FITNESS

Exercise Makes Everything Merry &Bright?

You bet your jingle bells it does. Holiday seasons are packed with fun and excitement, but they can also be full of stress, poor eating habits and even depression. We can avoid the common headaches of the holidays by making sure we schedule regular exercise sessions. Exercise and happiness are directly linked. There is real scientific evidence to support that exercise can improve conditions related to stress and anxiety. The American Psychological Association analyzed 80 studies of exercise and depression and found that all types of exercise reduced depression to some degree. Exercise can benefit you in so many ways. Just think of those benefits as extra Christmas gifts you will receive just by being active. Consider the benefits of fitness:

• YOU’LL ENHANCE YOUR METABOLISM - Very important with all the extra food temptations out there.

• YOU’LL REDUCE STRESS AND ANGER - Very important when fighting for the perfect sweater on black Friday.

• YOU’LL IMPROVE CONCENTRATION AND MEMORY - Very important so as not to forget someone on your list.

• YOU’LL INCREASE ENERGY LEVELS - Very important to cover each store in the mall. • YOU’LL INCREASE CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM - Very rewarding with a sense of accomplishment after each item is crossed off your list.

• YOU’LL IMPROVE YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM - Very important because many tend to share their germs as well as their gifts during the holidays.

• YOU’LL IMPROVE AND TONE YOUR BODY - Very important to look good in the new swimsuit your significant other is going to give you along with your two-week Hawaiian vacation.

• YOU’LL ALSO HELP PREVENT heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers, strengthen bones, help with weight loss and weight maintenance, improve quality of sleep, improve balance, coordination and agility, reduce high blood pressure and reduce high cholesterol. Let the gift giving begin. Get out there and exercise during the holidays. The gift of longevity and health will be better than anything you’ll find under your tree.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Mathews

Treehouse Athletic Club 801-553-0123 TacFitness.com

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Our imaging wOn’t cOst yOu an arm and a leg. Choose top quality imaging services and save an average of 40%. Did you know you have a choice when it comes to radiology services? Choose Mountain Medical’s imaging services, and you can save an average of 40% on MRI, CT, ultrasound, pain management treatments and more. You’ll be choosing the country’s sixth largest radiology group with some of Utah’s top physicians. We’ve negotiated lower “allowed” rates with insurance companies, so you pay lower out-of-pocket costs, Interest-free payment plans are available. If you’re uninsured you can also receive a discount. Murray: 5323 S. WoodroW Street, Ste. 100, 801.713.0600 South ogden: 1486 e. Skyline drive, Ste. 100, 801.475.4552

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

Merry & Bright

Winter F

Inside and

FAMILY FUN DOESN’T HIBERNATE IN You’ve built a snowman, made snow angels and had a snow ball fight. Flip on the TVs and computers because there’s nothing else to do in winter.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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Fun

Non-alcoholic

Eggnog Recipe

No need to fear raw eggs in eggnog. The eggs are gently cooked to kill any potential bacteria in this non-alcoholic eggnog. Since it contains no alcohol, the kids will enjoy it as much as the adults. You will want to keep this rich and creamy eggnog on hand all through the holidays. Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour Total Time: 1 hour, 5 minutes Yield: 12 to 16 servings Ingredients: 6 large eggs, plus 2 yolks 1/2 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 4 cups whole milk 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks Additional grated nutmeg for garnish

d Out WINTER

Hold up. Before you willingly put on the shackles of video games and YouTube, take a look at this list. Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find that sunshine and summer days donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t own the right to smile. Facebook.com/HealthyMag

Preparation: Combine eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a heavy 3- or 4-quart pan, whisking until well-combined. Continue whisking while pouring milk in a slow, steady stream until completely incorporated. Turn on burner to lowest possible heat setting. Place pan on burner and stir mixture continuously until an instant-read thermometer reaches 160 degrees F. and the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Be patient. This should take about 45 to 60 minutes. Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a large bowl to remove any accidental small cooked bits of egg. Add vanilla extract and nutmeg, stirring to combine. Pour into a glass pitcher, decanter, or container and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Refrigerate this egg custard mixture to chill at least 4 hours or up to 3 days before finishing. When ready to serve, pour heavy cream into a bowl and whip until it forms soft peaks. Fold whipped cream into cold custard mixture until combined. Serve eggnog in chilled cups or glasses and garnish with a sprinkle of nutmeg. http://homecooking.about.com/od/ beveragerecipes/r/blbev17.htm HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

At the House Merry & Bright

A house is what we make it. Here are some ideas for making your house a home rather than a prison.

1. Learn a Magic Trick Whether it’s pulling a quarter out of someone’s ear or making a card disappear, magic tricks can add a touch of enchantment to your house.

2. Make a Huge Domino Chain Reaction You know you’ve always wanted to. Gather the dominos!

3. Make a Festive Drink Discover your own traditions by trying something new. Eggnog and wassail are waiting at the store in bottles, but will they taste as good as what you can make in your own kitchen?

4. Write a Family Storybook Take turns writing chapters to whatever kind of book you want as a family. Illustrate afterwards. It may be a family bestseller.

5. Discover Something How does a microwave work? How does the internet work? What about car engines? In this day and age, we have the knowledge at our fingertips, so go search it out and be amazed at how good it feels to know stuff.

6. Write Letters to Famous People Maybe they have nothing to do either.

7. Paper Airplane Books Airplanes are so first grade, right? That may be the reason why you love learning all the ways a piece of paper can fly. It makes for great competition or just plain fun.

8. Read a book. Here are some new books for each member of the family: For little kids: A Ball for Daisy, written and illustrated by Chris Raschka. For kids: Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos, the 2012 Newbery Medal Winner. For older kids and adults: Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, an Amazon top seller for 2012. She also wrote the book Seabiscuit.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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Outside

The winter months don’t have to keep us indoors, and every outside activity doesn’t have to be about snow angels and snowball fights.

1. Cross-Country Skiing Why would anyone ever ski in any direction except downhill, you ask? Try cross-country skiing and you’ll understand. This activity is well-known for being an excellent way to exercise, but it’s also among the best ways to get out and enjoy nature’s white side.

2. Ice Sculptures People make ice sculptures and even ice hotels. There’s something magical about a clear block of rock-hard ice. Freeze a ton of water overnight in buckets or whatever you can find, and make an ice fort the next day, or make a sculpture.

3. A More Extreme Option: Snow Kiting If you’re looking for a new winter hobby and tend to live closer to the edge than others, try snow kiting. This is when you are harnessed to a parachute-like kite while snowboarding or skiing. The wind power allows you to travel across land, up hills and even into the air.

Best Board Games of 2012: Amazon Bestsellers Spot It An addicting game of matching, fun for groups small and large, or you can just play by yourself.

Qwirkle This game won the Parents' Choice Gold Award. It has 108 wooden blocks of different shapes and colors, and the point is to build lines of the same shape and color. A typical game lasts 45 minutes.

Settlers of Catan Each player tries to collect resources and build the best civilization. Three or four people can play at a time. This game is award-winning and hugely popular in some areas.

Ticket to Ride Battle opponents to complete your railroad to and from cities across the United States.

Bananagrams Scrabble too boring for you? Try speed scrabble, which describes Bananagrams perfectly.

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Blue Lemon Chef, Dave Prows Brings Fantastic Food with Flair to the New City Creek Center in Salt Lake City Blue Lemon’s ambient culinary concept is a solid cornerstone to the City Creek development

For more information about the Blue Lemon restaurant, contact: Michael K McHenry Michael@bluelemon.com

bluelemon.com

October 16, 2012 —(Salt Lake City, UT). How do you refine something uniquely fantastic? You add a renowned Executive Chef, David Prows, to your team. Chef Prows’ impressive credentials and experience demonstrate Blue Lemon’s dedication to providing a superbly distinctive dining experience. Among other awards and credentials, Chef Prows is a Certified Executive Chef, a member of the American Culinary Federation (ACF), and Fellow of the American Academy of Chefs—a highly prestigious designation within the ACF. Needless to say, Chef Prows brings immense diversity and creativity to an already extraordinary Blue Lemon menu. Chef Prows’ experience includes serving as Executive Chef at Gastronomy, Salt Lake Brewing Company, Delta Center, and Little America Hotel. But the gourmet, health-focused Blue Lemon cuisine is such an exciting challenge for Chef Prows that he jumped at the opportunity. “The Blue Lemon approach to pure clean food with a twist is fantastic. When food is clean and crisp, you don’t need to use preservatives. By creating the right combination of cooking techniques and quality spices, I’m able to offer customers

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healthier food with bold flavor,” Prows says. “It’s a lot of fun being in a unique, express gourmet, fast-casual restaurant like Blue Lemon. I get to use my passion for cooking to help build a brand and grow a company I believe in—it’s awesome.

artificial. But tasting is believing, and the doors are open wide with a broad invitation to come experience a whole new dining dimension. The ambiance coupled with the delectable menu will leave you energized, refreshed, and most importantly, satisfied.

“It’s an honor to have Chef Dave join Blue Lemon. His experience, insight, and passion for food distinguish Blue Lemon as the leader in healthy cuisine dining,” says owner, Aaron Day.

The restaurant offers a varied and evolving menu of simple but delightful foods sourced from the finest suppliers (mostly local) and prepared by chefs with ambition and flair. The menu includes staples such as brilliant salads (Pear and Gorgonzola Spinach Salad and raspberry chicken salads are top of mind requests), sandwiches (Slow Braised Short Rib, the roasted turkey avocado, and the grilled balsamic chicken panini are three favorites), entrees (classic bolognese, citrus seared salmon, and the fiery fish tacos are three more must-try creations), and a host of amazing starters, soups and sides (the hummus plate and the baked sweet potato fries are fantastic). Also not to be missed are the dessert offerings. In fact, the desserts are prominently part of Blue Lemon’s ‘b casual’ section, which also quick-grab specialty items such as a long list of espressos, coffees, and other hot drinks to pastries and other indulgent treats.

Urban and upscale, Blue Lemon has created an enlightened dining experience based on its fundamental premise of pure clean food, with a twist. The Blue Lemon concept is in full swing in the highly popular City Creek Center downtown, in the newest addition in Cottonwood Heights, and in the recently remodeled Highland —the original location. Blue Lemon’s menu exemplifies cuisine with a conscience. Delicious options abound, satisfying a variety of interests, including plenty of options for vegetarians and those afflicted with health issues. The mission is to feature foods that fuel and optimize benefits to the body the body without sacrificing taste. The creative cuisine is never fried or microwaved, and absolutely never weighed down with anything

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

FOOD

Merry & Bright

THE OF LIFE:

NATU R AL M U LTIVITAMIN S THAT DON ’T COME IN A C AP S U LE This month, you’re likely to encounter traditional spices we’ve come to associate with the holiday season—cinnamon, for example, or ginger. Consider that not too long ago, those same flavorings would have cost you a small fortune. W R I T T E N BY E M M A P E N RO D

umans the world over have been grinding and trading spices for centuries. Historically, traders risked their lives to import the most exotic varieties for noblemen, who would reward the successful adventurer handsomely. But did we go to all that trouble because just because we hate bland food, or was something more at play? According to a paper published this year in Evolutionary Applications, humans may have evolved to use spices while cooking because so many spices function as antimicrobials or antioxidants —making them useful as natural preservatives, especially in warmer climates, where spice tends to be used more abundantly in cooking. The nutritional value alone of most common spices may surprise you. Paprika, it turns out, is practically a low-dose multivitamin. Just one teaspoon—only six calories—contains more than 1,000 IU of vitamin A. That’s 21 percent of the recommended daily requirement. If you prefer something with a little more heat, a teaspoon of cayenne will not only make your eyes water, but also provide small but notable doses of vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, plus fiber, iron, potassium, niacin, riboflavin, magnesium and manganese. Some spices, such as mustard seed and saffron, even contain protein.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

In addition to imparting flavor without adding salt or fat, “the nutrients, phytochemicals and antioxidants in spices and herbs are so concentrated that even using small amounts can have big impacts on health,” writes Emily Fonnesbeck, a registered dietician who runs her own nutrition consulting business in St. George, . But the benefits may go beyond basic nutrition. Various spices have been used for years in traditional home remedies for all sorts of maladies, and modern science has only just begun to explore whether there might be fact behind the folklore. Some myths have been solidly disproven. For example, fennel seed, which was long thought to promote lactation in nursing mothers, was actually found to be toxic to young infants, according to the journal Acta Paediatrica. On the other hand, preliminary studies have found there might be a case for a folk legend that claims saffron imparts better vision, according to an article from Investigative Ophthalmology. Another article from BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine posited that ginger might be able to prevent the spread of some cancers. Still other spices have amusing, although

less critical, uses. Cinnamon, in addition to potentially regulating blood sugar levels, can also kill mosquitos, according to the American Chemical Society. However, not everything about spice is universally good for your health. Nutmeg, for example, is widely known to be a hallucinogen in large doses. And black pepper contains known carcinogens, according to the CRC Handbook of Alternative Cash Crops. However, it also contains antioxidants, thought to counterbalance the effects of those potentially damaging compounds. The bottom line, though, is that most spices are safe, and potentially beneficial, so long as they are used in reasonable quantities, according to Fonnesbeck. Harmful doses aren’t likely to appear in food, Fonnesbeck continues, but the creations of spice extracts meant to be used as supplements, such as the cinnamon supplements that have recently appeared, concerns her. “When you start to take mega-doses of anything, you disrupt [your body’s] balance,” she says. The science of spice is still in infant form, but we do know that spices help make a meal truly mature. So spice things up, and watch food improve, and your body just might follow suit.

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The Spice of Life

SPICE ADDS NOT ONLY FLAVOR, BUT NUTRITION, TO OUR FOOD, BUT NOT ALL SPICES ARE CREATED EQUAL. HOW DO YOUR FAVORITES STACK UP? THE CHART ABOVE OFFERS A SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON OF 21 SPICES COMMON TO AMERICAN COOKING. AN X INDICATES WHETHER THAT SPICE IS A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR, BY WEIGHT, OF CERTAIN ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS.

Are you between the ages of 50-85? Do you: Forget things more often? Forget important events? Lose your train of thought? If so, you may qualify for a research study, call Lifetree 801-892-5133 or visit lifetreeresearch.com

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Succulent Superstitions:

Merry & Bright

FOOD

OLD CU STOM S FOR A NE W YE AR

W R I T T E N BY E M M A P E N RO D

Sure, the coming year’s new diet might be backed by the latest scientific research, but that’s not to say some old-world wisdom can’t influence your dining the night of January 1. 30

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

Before science came in to vogue, superstitions led cultures around the world to develop traditions — many revolving around food — that were said to grant some of the same things we pledge to pursue at the beginning of a new year, such as health or financial success. Though we now know these rivals can't grant everything they promise, family traditions are still a lot of fun. So here are some New Year’s food superstitions that just might start your year right.

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WO RTH TH E I R W E IG HT I N GO LD:

Greens and Legumes The superstitious insist on eating leafy greens and legumes on New Year’s Eve. Both happen to resemble money greens such as kale, collard or spinach look like cash, and beans and lentils like tiny coins. Cabbage is considered especially lucky, because it, unlike many other greens, appears to grow when cooked. Others, such as kale, shrink, perhaps indicating the future of your personal fortune. In the South, black-eyed peas are the legume of choice for ringing in a new year. According to legend, a town in Mississippi once ran out of food while under attack during the Civil War, but to the great fortune of the residents, someone discovered a few bags of blackeyed peas tucked away in storage. The beans sustained the village through the war, and since then blackeyed peas, particularly when served in a traditional spicy dish with ham called Hoppin’ John, have been considered lucky.

Figs and other fruits for fertility and health Traditions in the Mediterranean hold that certain fruits, such as figs and pomegranates, are symbolic of fertility and health to come, and thus especially fitting for New Year’s Eve celebrations. In Spain, particularly among those whose livelihood was dependent on the success of their vineyards, this tradition grew and expanded until it became what continues as a modern ritual described by Food Republic. According to the Spanish, and many others who have adopted the tradition, 12 grapes should be consumed on New Year’s Eve before the clock strikes midnight. Each grape represents a month of the year, according to another account of the tradition from Epicurious, so if the first is sweet, expect good fortune in January. But if the second is bitter or sour, be wary of February. Jewish tradition also places importance on fruits and sweets, as sweet food is a general indicator of good things to come. Bitter or sour foods are unlucky on New Year’s and shunned.

To maximize their lucky potential, some traditions mandate that each individual eat one bean for each day of the coming new year.

Pork: the right white meat For longevity be sure to eat your carbs Long, unbroken noodles are symbolic of longevity in the east, as are round cakes in the west, so long as they remain uncut until after midnight. In many cultures, a round or ring-shaped cake should only be cut and served after the clock tolls twelve. The particulars of this tradition vary from country to country. The Greeks serve a round cake called vasilopita, a memorial to St. Basil, according to the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, with a coin baked inside — whoever finds the surprise will be blessed with luck in the year to come. Sweden and Norway celebrate with a variation on this theme, serving round puddings with a surprise almond, instead of a coin, baked inside.

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The sort of meat you serve on New Year’s deserves extra attention, as it may prophesy your fortune in the year to come, according to the Smithsonian. Pork is favored in the southern US, while fish is the centerpiece of choice in many European and Asian countries. Pigs and fish move forward while rooting or swimming, indicating that those who eat them on New Year’s Eve will see progress for the next 12 months. Other animals are unlucky for similar reasons — lobsters swim backward, and chickens scratch backward. Beef is neutral, because cows tend to stand still when grazing. Who knows? Guaranteeing progress in your career or dating life could be as simple as enjoying pork chops or salmon with friends.

No matter the celebration of tradition or choice, it would be wise to take a hint from the Germans, who hold that a little food should always be left over on your plate, lest the pantry go empty later in the year.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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FOOD Clockwise from near right: Cannellini & Cabbage Soup

Merry & Bright

164 calories per serving White Bean Chili 292 calories per serving Chunky Beef Stew 240 calories per serving Chicken Soup with Lentils & Barley 265 calories per serving Creole Chicken Stew 337 calories per serving Curried Vegetable Stew 205 calories per serving

See continuing article for soup recipes and nutritional information.

Soup du jour The best things in life warm the body, mind and soul.

Your kitchen will fill with the aromas of the roasting vegetables evoking old-fashioned, home-style meals. This is comfort food at its finest. Chicken Soup May Lower Blood Pressure Chicken soup, which has been dubbed Grandma's penicillin for its purported cold-fighting abilities, may also help to lower high blood pressure, a new study suggests. Japanese researchers have found that collagen proteins found in chicken may actually lower blood pressure. These collagens appear to act like the blood pressure medications called ACE inhibitors. One caveat, though: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the chicken, not the rest of the stuff in the soup, that may be medicinal.

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Soup du jour 164

292

C A L O R I E S

240

C A L O R I E S

Cannellini & Cabbage Soup

White Bean Chili

Chunky Beef Stew

MAKES: 4 servings

MAKES: 5 servings

MAKES: 6 servings

PREP TIME: 25 minutes

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

COOK TIME: 30 minutes

COOK TIME: 25 minutes

COOK TIME: 10 minutes INGREDIENTS:

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 pound lean ground turkey

Nonstick cooking spray

1 tbs. olive oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3/4 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into

3 cups thinly sliced cabbage

1 garlic clove, minced

1-inch cubes

2 carrots, sliced

3 1/4 cups water

3/4 pound tiny new potatoes, halved

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 can (15 oz.) great northern or cannellini

2 cups frozen cut green beans

1 tsp. dried thyme

beans, rinsed and drained

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

1 onion, cut into thin wedges

2 cans (14 oz. each) low-sodium chicken broth

2 tsp. instant chicken bouillon granules

1 can (14 oz.) low-sodium beef broth

1 can (14 1/2 oz.) no-salt-added diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 cup water

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 1/2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 tbs. flour

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 cans (15 oz. each) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

3 cans (8 oz. each) no-salt-added tomato sauce DIRECTIONS: 1. In a large saucepan, cook turkey, onion,

DIRECTIONS:

and garlic until turkey is no longer pink.

1. Over medium-high heat, lightly coat a 4-quart

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil over high heat.

2. Stir in 3 cups of the water, beans, und-

pot with cooking spray; add beef. Cook 4 to 5

Add cabbage, carrots, garlic, thyme, and

rained chilies, bouillon, cumin, and pepper.

minutes, stirring frequently. Remove beef from pot

pepper; cook 2 to 3 minutes.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer,

using a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Stir in broth, undrained tomatoes, water,

covered, for 30 minutes.

2. Add potatoes, green beans, carrots, onion,

and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce

3. In a small bowl, stir together the remain-

broth, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning,

heat. Simmer, covered, for 8 minutes, or until

ing 1/4 cup water and the flour. When chili

and pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil; reduce

vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.

is ready, add flour mixture and cook for 1

heat, simmer covered about 15 minutes, or until

3. Mash half the beans with a fork. Add all the

minute more to thicken. Serve.

vegetables are tender.

Photography by Bryan McCay

beans to the pot. Heat through and serve.

3. Add tomato sauce to pot. Return to a boil; NUTRITION PER SERVING:

reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

NUTRITION PER SERVING:

292 calories, 25g protein, 30g carbohydrate,

Add beef; heat thoroughly and serve.

164 calories, 11g protein, 30g carbohydrate,

8g fat (2g saturated), 6g fiber

4g fat (1g saturated), 9g fiber

NUTRITION PER SERVING: 240 calories, 20g protein, 33g carbohydrate, 3g fat (1g saturated), 6g fiber

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Soup du jour 337

265

205

C A L O R I E S

Merry & Bright

C A L O R I E S

Creole Chicken Stew MAKES: 4 servings

Chicken Soup with Lentils & Barley

Curried Vegetable Stew with Couscous

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

MAKES: 6 servings

MAKES: 4 servings

COOK TIME: 15 minutes

PREP TIME: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

COOK TIME: 40 minutes

COOK TIME: 20 minutes

1 tbs. olive oil

INGREDIENTS

INGREDIENTS:

1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch squares

1/2 cup dried brown lentils

1 tbs. ground cumin

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 1/2 lbs. skinless, boneless chicken thighs,

1 cup sliced leeks

1 tsp. curry powder

cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup chopped red or green bell pepper

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

1/2 tsp. salt

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

5 cups low-sodium chicken broth

3/4 tsp. salt

2 slices turkey bacon, chopped (optional)

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 tsp. minced garlic

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1 1/4 cup water

1/4 cup white wine

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary

3 tbs. olive oil

1 can (15 oz.) no-salt-added whole tomatoes

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

in puree, chopped

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken (1/2 lb.), chopped

1 tbs. chopped garlic

2/3 cup water

1 1/2 cups sliced carrots

1 tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/2 cup quick-cooking barley

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 can (16 oz.) no-salt-added diced tomatoes

2 zucchini, diced

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

1/2 tsp. bottled hot pepper sauce

DIRECTIONS

1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 lb. fresh green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces

1. Rinse lentils under cold running water; drain

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes

Cooked rice

and set aside.

Cooked couscous

2. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over high DIRECTIONS:

heat; add leeks, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high

until tender.

1. Stir spices, salt, pepper, and 2 tbs. of the water

heat. Add bell pepper and onion; cook, stirring, 4

3. Stir in chicken broth, basil, oregano, rosemary,

together in a bowl until smooth. Set aside.

minutes, or until tender. Transfer to a bowl.

black pepper, and lentils. Bring to a boil; reduce

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

2. Add chicken to skillet and sprinkle with salt and

heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add onion, garlic, cilantro, and spice mixture. Cook,

pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned.

4. Stir in chicken, carrots, and barley. Simmer,

stirring, 1 minute, or until onion begins to soften.

Add bacon, if using, and garlic; cook until browned.

covered, about 20 minutes more, or until carrots

3. Add cauliflower, zucchini, and green beans;

3. Pour in wine; cook 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes,

are tender. Stir in undrained tomatoes; heat

cook 2 minutes. Add 1 cup plus 2 tbs. water; bring

bell pepper mixture, water, oregano, cumin,

thoroughly and serve.

to a boil. Simmer, covered, for 5 minutes, or until

thyme, and hot sauce; bring to a boil.

vegetables are tender.

4. Add green beans; reduce heat and simmer

NUTRITION PER SERVING:

4. Stir in chickpeas and tomatoes; simmer 5

covered, until chicken is cooked through.

265 calories, 21g protein, 32g carbohydrate, 6g

minutes more. Serve with couscous, if desired.

fat (2g saturated), 9g fiber NUTRITION PER SERVING:

NUTRITION PER SERVING: (without couscous)

337 calories, 38g protein, 15g carbohydrate, 12g

205 calories, 7g protein, 21g carbohydrate, 12g

fat (3g saturated), 5g fiber

fat (1.5g saturated), 6g fiber

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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Just in time for the Holidays! Actual Client

Introducing

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012 37 To receive your $500 gift card visit UtahBreast.com/HealthyUtah or call 801.528.7851 Facebook.com/HealthyMag

HOW TO

Merry & Bright

GRIN WIN

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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SMILE AND WHY IT’S GOOD FOR YOU Frowners are downers, and grinners are winners, says science (and moms). There is an impressive field of research devoted to facial expressions and how they affect our lives. A smile, or lack thereof, influences how a person is perceived and treated by others, and affects general wellbeing. A smile is like a washing machine; you don't have to have one, but it really helps when you do. For starters, it makes you more attractive and likeable, research suggests. Customers who smile in stores get more help, and waiters who smile get more tips. A smile generates feelings of trust and cooperation. People who smile appear self-confident, intelligent and satisfied. Seeing a smile changes how we act. French researchers Nicolas Guéguena & Marie‐Agnès De Gaila organized a study where an assistant to the study would smile at a passerby, and a few seconds later, the passerby had the opportunity to help another assistant who had dropped some computer diskettes. After testing 800 people, the data showed that a smile enhanced the helping behavior of the test subjects. You help yourself and others with a smile. The list of benefits goes on and on. But we aren’t all smilers, so to speak. Because some don’t naturally think to smile often, does that translate to a disadvantage?

Remember, genuine smiling is in the mouth and the eyes. Another effective way to develop good smiling habits is to watch other people who frequently smile and try to mimic them, Kraft said. But mimicking a smile certainly won’t come from true feelings of elation, leading researchers to wonder if smiling without really feeling like smiling actually has benefits. Kraft actually studies this very thing. She and her colleagues recently recruited 169 students to study the health effects of smiling, but told them the study was about multi-tasking, to avoid influencing results. The unknowing students were then split into three groups, and each person was given chopsticks. One group was taught how to hold chopsticks in their mouths in such a way to have a neutral expression. The other two groups were taught to have normal smiles and sincere smiles (with eyes and mouth, called a Duchene smile), respectively, with the help of chopsticks. Then, while maintaining their chopsticked expressions, the students were asked to complete frustrating tasks, like tracing a star while looking only at a mirror image of the star. Researchers monitored heart rates and stress levels continuously. Smilers, especially the Duchene smilers, had lower heart rates while recovering from stressful situations compared to the neutral-faced group. This is surprising considering the fact that the smilers had little reason to really be smiling, suggesting that manufactured smiles still have benefits. The study also found that smilers experienced less of a decline in positive feelings when frustrating tasks were assigned.

Considering the data, maintaining a neutral face does, in fact, cause one to miss out on certain advantages. But, University of Kansas (UK) psychological scientist, Tara Kraft, says that smiling can be learned.

Okay, so why does that matter?

“The best way to ‘train’ yourself to smile, or to know whether you’re producing a genuine smile, is to practice in front of a mirror and memorize the feeling of activating the muscles around your eyes and in your cheek,” she says. “It’s relatively easy to see when you’re activating these muscle groups because you'll see your “smile lines” appear around your mouth, and the skin around the outside corner of your eye will wrinkle.”

“The actual activation of the muscles involved in smiling can have an impact on mood, making us happier,” Kraft said.

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People smile when they’re happy, we all know, but now it seems that people might become happy when they smile.

So smile! But, this doesn’t mean that all smiles are created equal. Dr. Paul Ekman, a researcher on the forefront of understanding emotion and its expression, wrote that there is a physical difference in how voluntary and involuntary smiles come about. “There appear to be two distinct neural

pathways that mediate facial expression, each one originating in a different area of the brain: one pathway for voluntary, willful facial actions and a second for involuntary, emotional facial reactions,” he writes in “Physiological Effects of the Smile,” a study he co-authored. He added that we seem to have less control over involuntary smiles, and that these smiles are smoother and more coordinated than voluntary ones. Real smiles and voluntary smiles are two different things, but that doesn’t mean we can’t reap benefits from both. “Our results suggest it may be possible for an individual to choose when to generate some of the physiological changes that occur during a spontaneous emotion—by simply making a facial expression,” Ekman writes in another study. In other words, smiling can change you even if you don’t feel like smiling, just like Kraft's research finds. A smile can brighten the day for yourself and those around you. It can lessen stress, improve your relationships and cause peers to behave better. Whatever your outfit today, make sure you’re wearing a smile.

“frank joy” A “Real” Smile

A hundred years ago the French physician Guillaume Duchene concluded that smiles couldn’t be placed in single behavioral category, because “frank joy” is expressed spontaneously by the contraction of different muscles than those contracted in a simple voluntary smile. Modern research agrees; there are definitely multiple emotions besides happiness that come with a smile, like frustration, and even fear. Thus a sincere smile was dubbed a “Duchene smile,” as researchers now call it. It is characterized by contracted muscles that raise the corners of the mouth, along with contracted muscles that raise the cheeks and form crow’s feet around the eyes. A “non-Duchene” smile only involved contractions of muscles around the mouth.

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I N S TA N T M O O D BOOSTERS

WIND FOR YOUR SAIL S FROM THINGS YOU DON ’T E XPECT Sometimes we feel like slugs: painfully slow in body and mind, unpleasant and without a sense of purpose. Coffee, energy drinks and even medication are common remedies for sluggishness, but there are better ways to go from dawdling to drag racing. Medication is a risky quick fix solution, and caffeine, including energy drinks, can stab you in the back with their addictive and overwhelming attributes. But the antisluggishness solution isn’t hidden far. Mind and body are tied together, so influencing one impacts the other. Because of this relationship, certain foods and exercises, which affect the body, can be valuable mood boosters to quickly put the skip back in your step and the twinkle back in your eye.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

FOOD FOR ATTITUDE Most researchers agree the overly salty, sugary and fatty American diet may be partly responsible for depressive disorders that affect nearly a tenth of the US population. Health transformation expert Angela Martindale agrees, and says that lifestyle matters too. "America’s instant gratification attitude leads to mood problems,” said Martindale. “We skip meals for time’s sake, and then we are always grabbing for sugar and a quick fix. Then our moods go up and down.” Getting sufficient vitamins and nutrients can go a long way in helping us control our temperament, and not getting those vitamins and nutrients can go a long way in the opposite direction. Here are some things to put in the body that have particular mood boosting capability:

1. Water: The Clear Choice for Mood Water is crucial to essentially every system in our body, and mood is affected by the health of those systems. Martindale says water is the first thing she recommends for a mood boost.

“When we feel tired, or down, I always recommend hydration,” she said. Two 2012 studies from the University of Connecticut showed that even mild dehydration can affect a person’s mood, energy level and ability to think clearly.

2. Vitamin D: The Solar Fare A 2010 study found that vitamin D deficiency increased the likelihood of having depression, according to WebMD. Low levels of vitamin D have also been associated with higher incidences of seasonal affective disorder, PMS and nonspecified mood disorder. There is some debate on how much vitamin D we need each day, ranging from 200 to 2000 international units (IU). A glass of milk has 50-100 IU, a can of tuna has 200 IU and 3.5 ounces of cooked salmon has 350 IU. High doses haven’t shown to be dangerous, so vitamin D a relatively risk-free bringer of vigor. The trick is that there aren’t many foods that naturally contain vitamin D. To obtain it, we can eat fortified foods like breakfast cereals, breads, juices and milk, or we can eat various types of fish like salmon and tuna. Exposure to the sun is another way

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EXERCISE TO RISE we obtain vitamin D, so getting a mood boost from nutrients may not involve eating anything at all, but a walk outside. Light-skinned people only need about 15 minutes in the sun each day to get enough vitamin D according to a Harvard Public Health Review. If exposure to the sun is limited, foods must take the place of the sun, and even supplements if the environment demands it.

3. The Stable are Able Swinging moods may have something to do with swinging diets, according to Elaine Magee, MPH, RD, author of 25 books on nutrition. “Meal-to-meal and day-to-day, keeping your blood sugars steady and your gastrointestinal (GI) tract running smoothly will help you feel good and energetic,” she wrote. “If your blood sugars are on a roller-coaster ride— hitting highs and lows from too much sugar and refined flour—you are more likely to feel out of sorts. Just as important as eating healthy things is maintaining those healthy eating habits, to keep your body’s systems running smoothly.

ENERGY DRINKS: BEWARE! More and more health professionals are worried about the health consequences of energy drinks. The FDA is currently investigating the deaths of five people who died after drinking Monster Energy. One 14-year-old girl in Maryland died of “cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity” after she drank two 24-ounce cans of Monster Energy in a 24-hour period. Though some Monster varieties have less, these cans contained 240 mg of caffeine each, which is the caffeine equivalent of about seven cans of Pepsi. The maximum recommended daily intake of caffeine for adults is 400 mg. The drink 5-Hour Energy is also under scrutiny from the federal government, being linked to 13 deaths. Energy drinks are sold as nutritional supplements, meaning they are not regulated as foods. FDA mandate says a 12 oz. can of soda cannot contain more than 71 mg of caffeine, but since energy drinks are categorized differently, they aren’t subject to this limit. Until research discovers the real consequences of high caffeine doses, it may be dangerous to rely on energy drinks for a mood boost. Facebook.com/HealthyMag

Physical exhaustion and a downer mood are two different things with two different solutions, but we often treat them the same. In fact, though exercise can make us tired, it can actually elevate mood, according to John Ratey, MD, and his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise. “The more we’ve learned about the biology of mood, the more we’ve come to understand how aerobic exercise alters it,” he wrote. “[Exercise] counteracts depression at almost every level.”

BEYOND FOOD & EXERCISE

1. A YouTube Video Researchers from the University of Western Ontario conducted two studies on the subject, and found that watching a positive YouTube video helped study participants score better on a test.

Here are a few physical activities that can boost mood.

This probably doesn’t mean there should be exclusive YouTube time at work, but watching an occasional video might not be a bad idea to boost mood and be more productive.

1. Cycling Your Energy

2. Music

The bicycle is an excellent opportunity to kill two or three birds with one stone. Go from A to B, have fun and feel uplifted.

Videos can be distracting however, so music might be an even better choice. Research shows that listening to music, in all its varieties, improves mood.

Researchers from the University of Georgia (UGA) found that after 30 minutes of cycling, subjects reported a boost in energy levels. One UGA professor suggested that cycling activates brain neural circuits that made the subjects feel energized.

2. Grumpy or Tired? Just Walk Away. Or Run. Researchers at Duke University conducted a test where they compared the effectiveness of Zoloft, an antidepressant, with exercise, and measured the comparative decrease in depression. The participants who exercised walked or jogged at three-quarters aerobic capacity three times a week. The study showed that exercise was as effective as medication in decreasing depression.

3. Breathe Like You Mean It

CONCLUSION

Martindale said that just taking ten deep breaths a day can be a huge booster.

Boosting mood can be a matter of creativity and discovery. There are many ways to shake off those listless feelings and put wind in our sails, but we need to strive to find the fuel that works best for us individually.

“Breath is a huge asset for energy,” she said. Researchers at Toho University School of Medicine in Japan performed a study where they taught the test subjects how to breathe deeply into their abdomen. After the participants maintained this type of breathing for twenty minutes, they had more of the mood-boosting neurotransmitter serotonin in their blood, and had fewer negative feelings, according to Scientific American's report on the study.

Remember that what you choose to do to boost mood will probably become a habit, so choose wisely. Good mood is intertwined with a healthy lifestyle, and shouldn’t be a matter of instances. A stable, healthy diet containing the nutrients that benefit mood, mixed with a lifestyle of frequent exercise will do more for mood than any quick fix will ever do.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

veryday we are surrounded by choices. Every choice comes with a result. What are the results of your choices? I want you to think about your health. What are your goals? Are you happy with how you look and feel? If you aren’t, then what are you doing to change that? It’s time to start making better choices. I want you to take a look at how you eat. Take 4 days and keep a food log of everything you eat. Then look back at what you ate and how healthy you are truly eating. Be honest with yourself, otherwise you wont change.

W R I T T E N BY B R A D S E L F

Daily CHOICES .

>> Advisor Women's Health

Heavy

PERIODS?

Are you tired of your monthly cycle? Has the bleeding and pain got you down? Does the thought of your time of the month inhibit you from doing the things you like? Cheer up. There are many options out there that can turn that frown into a smile! Today's women seem to be busier than ever before. Between trying to be a soccer mom, bus driver, teacher, wife, entrepreneur, and everything else imaginable, there seems to be no time for yourself. Having a heavy period amongst all that you need to do seems overwhelming. The good news is that there are many alternative therapies that can help. Here are just a few you may want to consider. The " pill " has been around now for decades. It originally was formulated as 150 mcg of estrogen. In 2012, there are now pills as low as 10 mcg or 1/15 the original dose. What this means for you is that you can take the pill with much less worry about blood clots or strokes. The risk is still there, but much less likely to occur than in the past. In general, the pill will decrease the amount of bleeding associated with your period by about 1/3 to 1/2 of what it normally would be. This way your cycle can be more manageable. Some pills even offer the option of having only 4 cycles a year, but with an increased risk of breakthrough bleeding. If taking a pill each day is not your cup of tea, then perhaps a progesterone containing IUD would be of

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

The best way to eat better is to plan what you are going to eat each day. It’s challenging initially, but that’s because you have a habit of not planning out your nutrition. Once you have a habit of planning better, it gets easier. When you are making changes to your food intake, make sure

benefit. There are many advantages with the modern IUD that not only are extremely effective at preventing pregnancy, but also will greatly reduce or even eliminate your cycle. The hormone containing IUD will totally eliminate a period in about 1/3 of users and greatly reduces the amount of bleeding in over 90% of women. Some women will experience more spotting and nuisance bleeding, but overall the vast majority will be happier with less pain, clotting, and less bleeding. The nice thing about the IUD is that it is easily reversible and when you do decide to restart having your family, you can have it removed and your fertility usually returns almost immediately. It will last for up to 5 years if you so desire. I have many women who like it for the decreased pain and bleeding so much that they will replace it at the end of 5 years to continue to receive the advantages it offers even when they no longer need it for birth control. If you are at the point in your life that you are finished with childbearing, then the options are wide open. The least invasive of the surgical options is a new procedure that helps to destroy the lining of the uterus. There are several types of ablations available, but they all attempt to destroy the lining of the uterus and therefore decrease or eliminate your period. The three most common are the Novasure which uses radiofrequency heat to burn the endometrium, the Thermachoice balloon therapy which circulates hot water inside a balloon, or the HTA or hydrothermablation technique that circulates hot water freely to destroy the uterine lining. All are fairly equally effective methods and you will need to talk to you doctor to decide which one would suite you best. They are typically done in office and offer many advantages over a hysterectomy in that the cost is often just a co-pay and you can avoid hospitalization. The most risky and invasive option of course is a hysterectomy. All hysterectomies are invasive surgeries and carry significant risks. The least invasive and least risky of the hysterectomy types is the good old fashioned vaginal hysterectomy.

you are evenly placing your food throughout the day. This way your body gets energy evenly as the day progresses. Combine your meals with lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. Don’t restrict what you can and can’t eat, moderate it. If you cut out food you love eating, you’ll splurge on it later. Try to eat smaller portions of what you love. Eat your cheat foods earlier in the day so that you have all day to burn it off. We have to understand that food is fuel, that’s all. The better we fuel our bodies, the healthier we will be. If you fuel your body to be lean, then you will be lean. If you over eat your food then you are fueling your body to be over weight. Either way you are making a choice. I’m a huge advocate that perfection is impossible. What you can do is make the best possible choice you can everyday. Do this, and you are moving towards that goal of yours. Make the choice to achieve your goal. Make the choice to be better.

In fact, despite the newer laparoscopic and robotic procedures that are offered, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that 2/3 of all hysterectomies be performed vaginally to decrease the risks associated with more invasive techniques. With a vaginal surgery you do not have any abdominal incisions and less risk of bladder or bowel injury than with abdominal, laparoscopic, or robotic surgery. Despite the " neatness " of robotic surgery, you still need between 4-5 small incisions and actually require almost 2 to 3 times as long a surgery with the robot than with the typical vaginal procedure. Do not let your surgeon convince you that newer and more expensive is better. Typically a vaginal hysterectomy takes about 45 minutes to perform whereas a robotic surgery takes about 3 hours. The less time you spend under anesthesia, the less chance of pulmonary embolus or deep venous thrombosis. One last option available is something called uterine artery embolization. It requires an interventional radiologist and is still considered by many to be investigational. This is accomplished by threading a catheter into an artery that leads to the uterine artery and placing very tiny silicone beads into the artery to stop the blood flow to the uterus. It is done only in a few hospitals and requires skill and expertise. It has not been shown to be that effective in most clinical trials. Well there you have just a few of the things you may want to think about if the monthly cycle is something you would just as soon avoid. So smile and talk to you doctor. He or she can help you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Saunders, MD

Obstetrics & Gynecology Personal Care 801-692-1429 drsaundersobgyn.com

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

YOU SCROOGE

You Lose

W R I T T E N BY M I C H A E L R I C H A R D S O N

How Giving Makes Us Healthier In a recent study, toddlers were given treats, and then asked to give part of their treats away. Instead of greed, the toddlers displayed selflessness, gladly giving away their treats, and were actually happier to give treats than to receive them. 46

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

Not only that, but the toddlers were happier to give away their own treat than to give away another treat that wasn’t theirs. “Forfeiting their own valuable resources for the benefit of others makes them happier than giving away just any treat,” said Dr. Lara Aknin, coauthor of the study, which was done at the University of British Columbia. Heartwarming, yes, but also intriguing. Logically, it doesn’t make sense to give and expect nothing in return, and it certainly doesn’t make sense to prefer giving away our own things versus just giving anything. But we do it anyway. And something about benevolence keeps us hooked on the act. Maybe there is something we get in return, however. The researchers from British Columbia guess that the toddlers gave because it felt good,

plainly speaking. Perhaps our bodies are built to glean happiness from giving. “The fact that toddlers show the warm glow of giving suggests that the capacity to derive joy from helping others is deeply woven into human nature,” the study’s authors suggest. But joy is just one of many benefits, according to The Health Benefits of Volunteering, a report from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). Based on more than 30 recent studies, the report finds that volunteers:

• • • •

Have greater longevity. Have higher functional ability. Have lower rates of depression. Have less incidence of heart disease.

Volunteering is especially healthy for older adults, studies show. "Volunteerism is an important tool in our strategy to promote health and prevent

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disease,” said Josefina G. Carbonell, Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The CNCS Report states that those who serve about two hours per week enjoy “significant health benefits.” The actual act of service can bring positive physiological changes, like decreased stress and the release of endorphins, said nonprofit leader and author Allan Luks. Twenty years ago Luks introduced the term “helper’s high” to explain the physical feelings people experience when they are directly helping others.

Winston Churchill

had it right when he said: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.”

“We are programmed by our genes to help,” said Luks, who now directs the Fordham Center for Nonprofit Leaders. His research shows that regular helpers are ten times more likely to be in good health than people who don’t volunteer. If it is so good for us, why don’t more people start serving others? Luks says people just aren't informed. “Education is needed in the uphill battle to get people to recognize the health benefits of helping others, and the helper’s high they can enjoy.” We may get some help in this uphill climb as society sometimes pushes us to be helpful. “Cooperation is typically advantageous” according to Harvard researcher David G. Rand and colleagues, whose research suggests that for this reason, human beings give intuitively. In a recent study, Rand and colleagues gave some money to participants who were then told to decide how much to invest in a shared group fund. Results showed that the more time people took to decide, the less money they contributed to the fund. When participants were told to decide quicker, contributions increased. Researchers concluded from these findings that “intuition supports cooperation.” In other words, our instincts point us to give rather than be selfish. Whether we learn to give or just do it naturally, Americans are serving and donating up a storm. In 2010, 62.8 million adults served almost 8.1 billion hours through various organizations, according to nationalservice. gov. This service is valued at more than $170 billion. We also give money. In 2011, giving by individuals reached $217.79 billion, which is more than 70 percent of total giving in the United States, according to Giving USA. Foundations and corporations donate billions as well. And it isn’t just wealthy people giving. In 2008, despite rough economic times, 75 percent of Americans reported giving to a charitable cause, according to Gallup.com. We give about 2 percent of our GDP, which seems like a lot of giving, but we are receiving plenty in return, research suggests. As we approach the holidays and gifts are exchanged, no doubt the phrase ‘tis’ better to give than receive’ will be heard a million times. Now, thanks to modern research, there is real substance behind that idea. In the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, an enormous study overseen by Harvard researchers, 30,000 American households were surveyed about finances and wellbeing, among other things. According to the data, people who gave money to a charity were 43 percent more likely than non-givers to report that they were “very happy” about their lives.

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Helping Kids Give Research says that kids might actually enjoy giving more than getting. But what’s under the Christmas tree is usually for the kids. How can parents balance the giving and getting? “Parents can consider giving their children holiday presents that allow their kids to give,” says Dr. Lara Aknin of the British Columbia study. Aknin says several new charities offer this possibility, such as Donorschoose.org. This website allows donors browse through a list of various school projects in need of assistance and fund a cause or project of their choice. Kids can support their favorite subject (math, science, social studies, music, etc.). Recipients respond with thank you notes and feedback on the impact of the gift, says Aknin. HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

A HEALING HALLELUJAH

Music...can decrease anxiety and tension, assist in

Nat King Cole, the Beach Boys and Mariah Carey are blaring through homes, malls and car speakers once again this holiday season. There’s no part of these songs you don’t know by heart.

Music therapy

There are thousands of music therapists all over the country, including 69 in . The Association of Music Therapists reported that more than 16,000 people in received music therapy in 2010. Professional music therapists use music “within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals,” according to the American Music Therapy Association. Therapists must also complete a four-year degree along with additional training and board exam to become certified. They work to help with conditions as varied as Alzheimer’s, autism and substance abuse, in places as diverse as veterans centers, schools, physical rehabilitation centers, hospice care facilities, nursing homes and hospitals.

But as you sing along, there is more happening than you may realize. Music has some cards up its sleeve. Our understanding of the music and health link has progressed through the centuries, but only recently has music therapy become a widely accepted field of medicine that plays a significant role in a host of illnesses and disorders. It turns out that while humans do indeed make music, music can also make us.

A music therapist, who always works with the patient in conjunction with a team of other health professionals, first assesses the patient’s problems. Based on those needs, therapists design active or passive music sessions around their client, meaning that sometimes the patient plays an instrument, sings, or just listens. After the music comes reflection and discussion on how the music relates to the patient’s life. Well, that sounds nice and all, but what exactly does music have the capacity to do, medically speaking? “Music can reflect a full range of human emotions and is a

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pain management, help relieve insomnia, and promote relaxation. nonverbal means of expression; it can decrease anxiety and tension, assist in pain management, help relieve insomnia, and promote relaxation,” reads the Association of Music Therapists home page. Pitch, harmony, melody and rhythm all engage different parts of the brain, according to the L.A. Times, and many of those same regions are also engaged in speech, movement and social interaction. Therefore, damage done by disease or trauma can sometimes be bypassed through music. “Music making activities may…facilitate the establishment of alternative pathways, which could have the ability to circumvent dysfunctional brain regions,” wrote Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, a Harvard University neurologist. A full scale of melodic solutions has caused doctors to trade pills for iPods. Here is a sampling.

Movement

Some music makes us want to get up and dance. For some disabled people, music simply makes movement possible. Certain diseases, like Parkinson’s, damage the parts of the brain central to movement. The rhythm of music can help bring that movement back through a different route in the brain. Music with a steady, predictable beat can initiate walking by cueing the brain’s motor regions.

Speech

More than 80,000 people each year who’ve had a stroke suffer from lingering speech impairment called aphasia, which comes from damage to the left side of the brain. Schlaug said that for these patients, a simple form of singing helps them improve their speech fluency compared with patients whose therapy doesn’t include singing. Schlaug’s research shows that music therapy even causes physical adaptations in areas of the brain. Singing uses parts of the brain that normally aren’t used for speech, though are capable of it. Eventually patients can reach the point where they are singing in their mind but speaking normally aloud, allowing them to communicate nearly the same as before the injury. Singing has shown to help with speech conditions related to not just strokes, but also with stuttering, Parkinson’s disease and autism. Emily Bailey, a neurologic music therapist in Salt Lake City, said there are times when music is able to help patients in ways that other therapy and drugs can’t, especially with patients who’ve been deemed nonresponsive by other health professionals.

the speech pathways, members of the treatment team often say, ‘you probably won’t get much from them,’” Bailey said. “I start with a familiar song like ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ and the patient starts singing along and engaging with me using eye contact and smiling. I’ve seen this over and over again.”

Memory

Melody may have a found a chink in the armor of the destructive and heart-breaking Alzheimer’s Disease. According to the L.A. Times, music can temporarily unlock memories in patients who have forgotten essentially every detail of their lives.

Music for the Heart

Recent research shows that music can help control blood pressure, heart rate and respiration, which makes it an excellent tool for cardiologists. Italian researcher Luciano Bernardi, professor of medicine at the University of Pavia, led a research study on how music affects the heart physiologically, and he found that with music containing a series of crescendos, there was a proportional constriction of blood vessels and increases in blood pressure, heart rate and respiration. "Music induces a continuous, dynamic—and to some extent predictable—change in the cardiovascular system," Bernardi said in a statement. As the music underwent a decrescendo, physiological measures of the cardiovascular system decreased, according to a report in Scientific American.

Difficult Medical Procedures Made Easier

Neuroscientist Damir Janigro, son of a world-renowned cellist, is studying how music can be used to make surgeries and intense medical procedures go easier. According to his study at a clinic in Cleveland, music can slow the neuronal firings deep within the brain, meaning that a patient is more relaxed. Relaxation can mean less medication, better blood pressure control, quicker recovery time and shorter hospital stays, Janigro told TIME magazine. And with health care costs raging out of control, music may top the charts as a costeffective health assistant.

Mood

Mood and Christmas music go hand in hand, but music in all its varieties improves mood, according to research by Valeria Stratton, PhD, and colleagues at Penn State University. The study, published in Psychology and Education, found that music listeners are more optimistic, joyful, friendly and relaxed, with fewer emotions of pessimism and sadness. We've all felt music push us to dance, cry or take on the world, but we don't often consider that the medical benefits of music are almost as numerous as the multitude of feelings music inspires. Source:Wan CY, Rueber T, Hohmann A, Schlaug G.The Therapeutic Effects of Singing in Neurological Disorders. Music Perception 2010;27(4):287-295. http://www.musicianbrain.com/ papers/Wan_Rueber_Hohmann_Schlaug_Singing.pdf

Q: What is the

Healthiest Music?

A: Trick question.

There is no best music for therapy.

“Stating a 'best' music is much like best color, or place to live, or even type of car,” said Bailey, who owns and operates Measured By Music in Salt Lake City. “It is individualized and influenced by our background, experiences, expectations, and preferences.” Music is so versatile that it can be used in a variety of ways for a variety of maladies. Music therapists learn how to tailor music to the needs of the patient, meaning that many different kinds of music are used. “A music therapist must assess what type of emotional experience is required for the patient’s needs,” Bailey said. “This and musical preference of the patient (the most accurate way to address individual arousal/activation level) is how music therapists select genres of music.”

The Cancer Treatment Centers of America keeps a library of music available for its patients, and even has special musical events, according to usnews.com, where patients use music as a nonverbal release of emotion, as some patients cannot release emotion through talking.

“With patients previously verbal but no longer due to dementia or injury to Facebook.com/HealthyMag

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

W E L L N E S S

Lobe LOGIC During the holidays, trees and houses get some of what ears deal with all year: the pain of decoration. A little lobe logic, however, can help keep ears merry through all seasons. The nature of earrings makes precaution necessary. Ear embellishment of this sort requires an on-purpose injury that is never guaranteed to heal properly. Here are four penetrating questions and answers about earring safety.

Piercing

QUESTIONS ABOUT

Earrings

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

How Young Is Too Young?

In many Latin American countries and cultures, baby girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ears are pierced within the first six months of birth. Tradition plays a large role in the decision. Medical recommendations vary on when it is okay to pierce the ears of a child. A good precaution is to wait

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at least until the child receives his or her first immunizations, which happen in the first six months, generally. This will help the child avoid infections from the piercing, which are more threatening at a young age, considering a child’s underdeveloped immune system.

blood can transmit hepatitis B and C, along with tetanus, according to mayoclinic.com. A health professional should be contacted immediately if an infection is persistent, and especially if the earring clasp becomes embedded in the earlobe and can’t be removed.

But infection isn’t the only thing parents must consider. Small children by themselves cannot properly take care of a new piercing, which should be cleaned twice a day. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting to do piercings until the child is old enough to care for the piercing him or herself. Otherwise parents alone have the important and time-consuming responsibility of making sure their child’s piercing doesn’t get infected.

The most common cause of pierced ear infections is unsterile piercing equipment or unsterile earring posts. If the equipment isn’t to blame, our fingers often bring the infection to the open wound after the initial procedure.

For small children, earrings also present a choking hazard. Children may be able to take the earrings off and put them in their mouths. Also, children may tend to fiddle with the earrings, which can increase the chances of infection. If parents decide to get their child’s ears pierced, having a pediatrician do the piercing is probably a good idea. Licensed medical professionals will probably have more sterile equipment and take better precautions to protect the child.

Parents should also teach these important earring basics. from B.D.

Schmitt, MD, author of Your Child's Health ››

Don’t touch your earrings except to insert or remove them. Fingers are dirty.

››

Remove the earrings at night to expose the channel to air (This only applies after the healing process is complete.)

››

Clean earrings, posts and earlobes before placing the earrings.

››

Attach clasps loosely to prevent any pressure on earlobes.

››

Don’t wear dangling earrings for sports. Be careful when dancing and washing hair as well, or in activity where your earrings could get caught.

How Do I Know if My Piercing Has Caused an Infection?

Dr. Schmitt wrote that some signs of infection are when swelling and redness spread beyond the pierced area, when the individual develops a fever above 100°F, and when the infection doesn’t improve for 48 hours. Most infections of the ear don’t take long to heal, but some are more serious. Equipment contaminated with infected

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Other times, earrings are too tight, either because they are simply too short for the size of the earlobe or because the clasp is closed too tight. This presents two problems, according to Dr. Schmitt: lack of air flow and lack of blood flow, which both make the earlobe more vulnerable to infection. Cheap earrings may also have rough areas along the post, which means they can scratch the inside of ear and bring infection. Sometimes the post is inserted wrong, which further irritates the piercing. Use a mirror to put in earrings until you becoming accustomed to it. Ask your doctor about which cleaning solution is best for the ears. Carol Mulvihill, RN-C,BSN and Carla Peterman of the University of Pittsburgh say that certain antiseptics like peroxide, bactine and alcohol can actually destroy new healing tissue. Peroxide and bactine can, however, be diluted to three parts water and one part antiseptic for safe use. There is potential risk for infection with any piercing, according to the Association of Professional Piercers (APP), as they all break the skin. However, different types of piercings have different risks and require different amounts of time to heal. For example, an ear piercing in the cartilage of the ear rather than the lobe presents more risk and takes a longer time to heal. The APP doesn’t recommend using a piercing gun, as it carries additional risks for infection because of its repeated use. Make sure whatever is being used is sterile, and that the person doing the piercing is trained.

Am I Allergic to My Earrings?

Looks aren’t everything when it comes to jewelry, says the APP. “The look of the jewelry that is placed in your fresh piercing must be secondary to aspects that affect safety and compatibility with your body,” reads safepiercing.org. Allergies must be taken into consideration when choosing earring material.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) warns that metal jewelry containing nickel, cobalt or white gold can cause allergic reactions. About 10 to 15 percent of Americans have a nickel allergy, though many do not know it, according to cnn.com. When an allergic person touches nickel, there may be rashes, bumps, redness and dryness. A nickel allergy usually develops after repeated or prolonged exposure to items containing nickel, which is often jewelry, according to mayoclinic.com. “The more piercings you have, the greater your risk of developing a nickel allergy,” the website says. For earrings, especially first-time earrings, surgical-grade stainless steel, titanium, 14or 18- karat gold or a metal called niobium are good choices.

Should I Do it at Home?

APP Secretary Bethra Szumski says that home piercing isn’t a good idea. “There are just too many variables with home self-piercing,” she says. “Most people don't have enough of an understanding of aseptic technique to manage the job safely.” This may sound obvious, but YouTube videos titled “How to Pierce Your Ears With a Safety Pin” shouldn’t be used. Movies like The Parent Trap show funny episodes of self-inflicted ear piercing, but risks are real, and probably not a smiling matter once they happen. An ear-piercing fiasco can seriously debilitate one's health. Furthermore, serious infections can result in a person never being able to pierce their ears again. Also, the exact placement of the piercing matters, since misplacement can lead to disfigurement, stretching and discomfort. An experienced piercer is more likely to pierce the correct spot. HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

>> Advisor Allergies

Immunity

New Season! One of my patients had a miserable holiday season last year. She couldn’t eat at Thanksgiving because her stomach hurt so bad, she couldn’t go shopping because of severe joint pain, and couldn’t enjoy any holiday activities because she was so fatigued from swelling.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Douglas H. Jones, MD Rocky Mountain Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 801-775-9800 rockymountainallergy.com

Dr. Jones specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of all conditions relating to allergies, asthma and immune system disorders. He is board certified by the American Board of Allergy and Immunology and the American Board of Internal Medicine. He earned his MD from Penn State University and completed his specialty training at Creighton University.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

She has been told for years that she had everything from allergies to lupus to irritable bowel syndrome to joint disease that needed surgery. Due to the severity of symptoms, she had to stop/limit activities and exercise because every time she would try to participate, she would swell too much. She has been treated for years with medications that make no difference in her symptoms because she did not have an accurate diagnosis. This holiday season is going to be different! She now has a correct diagnosis of a disease called Hereditary Angioedema (HAE), and effective treatment that has changed her life. This is a serious disease that is caused by the lack of or improper function of a natural protein called C1 esterase inhibitor, which helps maintain the normal flow of fluids through capillaries. In some cases, estrogen also plays a role in leading to attacks. HAE leads to fluid accumulation outside of blood vessels, which can occur anywhere in the body but typically manifests as swelling in the abdomen, hands, feet, face, and/or the airway.

Signs and Symptoms

The nature of HAE varies greatly and changes with age. Untreated attacks can last from 2 to 5 days and occur as frequently as multiple times a week or only a few times per year. Some patients are told they are “crazy” or “drug seekers”. They are frequently misdiagnosed for several years and have often had unnecessary surgeries. Typical symptoms of HAE are: ӰӰ Swelling in the arms, legs, lips, face, tongue, or throat. ӰӰ Swelling of the intestines--can be severe leading to vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, severe pain, and occasionally shock.

ӰӰ Repeat episodes of abdominal cramping without an obvious cause. ӰӰ Swelling of the airway- involves hoarseness and throat swelling that may block the airway.

Triggers

Although many attacks/episodes occur for no apparent reason, triggers such as stress, illness (ie common cold or flu), anxiety, and trauma have been reported. Additionally, many female patients report an increase in the number of attacks during menstrual periods and when taking estrogen as oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy.

Diagnosis

A diagnosis can be made by a physician that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of angioedema such as a board certified allergist. Special blood tests can be ordered for appropriate diagnosis.

Treatment

Depending on the type of angioedema you have, there is treatment that can specifically help you. There are treatments now available that can replace C1 esterase inhibitor. There are also medications that can inhibit the swelling that occurs. These medications can be used to prevent attacks from occurring or treat an acute onset attack. They are highly effective treatment that make a significant impact in your quality of life and improves your safety. This year, I wish my friend a Happy Holiday Season full of health, thanksgiving, and rejoicing this year!

Visit www.rockymountainallergy.com. Healthy-Mag.com

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/ / \ \

The harmful side effects of your

THE NEWS NUMBERS, STUDIES, AND STATS

beauty products

REPORTED BY:

WATCH VIDEO HERE> HTTP://BIT.LY/UECBGN

REPORTED BY KIM FISCHER

A recipe for disaster. From great skin to luxurious hair, the beauty products you’re using may contain not so pretty chemicals for your skin. Abc 4 news talks with a dermatologist to break down the biggest culprits and keep you safe. 1. DEA – AFFECTS FETUS DEVELOPMENT

Abuse of ADD and ADHD

drugs rises in the teenage community REPORTED BY BRENT HUNSAKER | CONTRIBUTOR, JAY REYNOLDS

When you think of drug rehab, you probably think Cocaine, Heroin, Oxycontin. But some different drugs are sending an exploding number of kids into treatment these days. They’re ADD and ADHD drugs, and they're leading to life-threatening addictions and sending kids into rehab for Ritalin.

“It's huge. I have probably a hundred clients and over 80 percent of them have been addicted to Adderall since they were in grade school. It's an enormous rise from just 10 years ago,” said CEO of Safe Harbor Treatment Centers for Women Velvet Mangan. The drugs seem to be easy to obtain and socially acceptable.

/ / \ \

"I really liked the effect and how they made me feel,” said addict Annie Gendaszek. A friend with a prescription introduced Annie to ADHD medications when she was just 13-years old.

The typical values against illicit drugs don't seem to come into play here.

WATCH VIDEO HERE> HTTP://BIT.LY/TAELUS

“So I sought out my own prescriptions from doctors,” said Annie. By the time she was in college, she was abusing the drugs daily and feeling the effects. “Significant weight loss, irritable moods. I started lying, being dishonest, and stealing,” said Annie. Experts say it's a problem. An estimated 5% to 10% of young people are misusing or abusing ADHD medications. “If you're just popping them willy-nilly and you're using them in context with other substances, which is frequently occurring, that could be potentially dangerous,” said Dr. Timothy Wilens with Massachusetts General Hospital. Rehab centers say they're seeing an influx of patients addicted to the drugs.

“It's just kind of the norm on college campuses, just like drinking is,” said Mangan.

But the DEA lists these prescription stimulants as schedule two controlled substances, the same as Cocaine and Oxycontin. “It's similar to misusing any kind of Amphetamine or Speed or Cocaine and it's going to require abstinence from that. It's going to require recovery management skills, how to fight urges, how to fight cravings,” said Dr. Wilens. But it is treatable through rehab. Annie got the help she needed and she's about to celebrate four years of sobriety. ”It's a really sad and lonely place to be but there is hope and there is a solution,” said Annie. If addiction isn't scary enough, selling an ADHD prescription or just giving it away to your friends is actually a felony offense and could lead to jail time.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

DEA (Diethanolamine), is a substance used to produce ingredients that add foaminess and creaminess to shampoos, body washes, bubble baths and waterless hand cleaners. A DEA offshoot – Cocamide DEA – is an allergen that can be irritating to the skin and associated with contact dermatitis. The biggest DEA-related concern, according to dermatologists, is its potential harm to fetuses. One animal study done on mice showed that the ingredient could damage the developing brain and memory by blocking the absorption of the B vitamin Choline during infant development. The best substitute is coconut oil.

2. PARABENS - MAY CAUSE BREAST CANCER

Parabens are a preservative in personal-care products. They prevent the growth of microbial organisms and is found in shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gels, makeup and many other items. According to dermatologists, The biggest concern is that parabens might mimic the hormone estrogen which has been tied to certain types of breast cancers. One study in 2004 found them in human breast tumors. Researchers aren’t sure how the parabens got into the tumors or whether they caused the tumors to appear. Try using citrus seed extract or antioxidants like vitamin E.

3. TRICLOSAN - MAY CAUSE HORMONE DISRUPTION AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

Triclosan is an antibacterial and antifungal ingredient found in many antibacterial soaps, gels, toothpastes and some cosmetics. Because of increased interest in keeping germ-free, especially during the cold and flu season, many consumers believe a product’s use of triclosan is an added benefit. A study on a popular toothpaste containing triclosan was effective in preventing gingivitis, but animal studies have tied triclosan to hormone disruption. Dermatologists say the ingredient may even contribute to making bacteria antibiotic-resistant. The FDA is reviewing the safety and effectiveness of this ingredient. Dermatologists say just use regular soap and water.

4. FRAGRANCE – CAN CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS / MIGRANES / ASTHMA

In addition to making products smell desirable, fragrance can even mask or conceal the odor of certain unpleasant-smelling ingredients. Added fragrance can cause allergic reactions, migraines and asthma symptoms in chemically sensitive people. Over longer periods of time, research has shown some added fragrances may be hormone disruptors because the body cannot eliminate them. Nothing beats good body hygiene. Wash sweaty areas thoroughly, he says, so that you don’t need perfumed products to make you smell better. Go fragrance free.

5. MERCURY – CAN CAUSE KIDNEY, VISION, HEARING, NERVOUS & IMMUNE SYSTEM DAMAGE

Mercury, a highly toxic substance, used to be a staple in many mascaras serving as both a preservative and a way to kill mites that could burrow in women’s eyelashes. Now it’s also used as an ingredient in skin lightening products sold over seas and online – ones that promise to eradicate age spots or freckles. Mercury can damage the kidneys, vision and hearing, and cause harm to the nervous and immune system over time.

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W E L L N E S S

SUPERBUG

Solution W R I T T E N BY M I C H A E L R I C H A R D S O N

Forget aliens attacking from outer space. Superbugs (a.k.a antibiotic-resistant bacteria) are already here, defeating our best weapons. Fortunately, an unlikely hero is stepping forward in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria: natural viruses. This solution enters the scene at a desperate time. One superbug, Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, more commonly known as MRSA, infects 102,000 people per year and is responsible for about 19,000 deaths per year. In comparison, AIDS kills about 9,000 per year. Staphylococcus, or staph, is a common bacteria, but this new strain resists the common antibiotic, methicillin, and a host of other drugs that are the usual remedy for staph, like penicillin, cephalosporin and macrolides. The most terrifying aspect of MRSA and other superbugs is that people most often get them at medical facilities. Even the nation’s best health centers are not exempt, like the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center, which recently had six patients die from superbugs. Exponential growth of MRSA and other antibiotic-resistant infections led Dr. Margaret Chan, the World Health Organization Director-General, to call on the world in 2011 to respond before a global health crisis hits.

HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

“More and more essential medicines are failing,” she wrote. “In the absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and, once again, kill unabated.” Chan wrote that resistance to drugs happens naturally as microbes adapt, but that drugs aren’t being developed quickly enough to replace the failing medicines. She blames “irrational and inappropriate use of antimicrobials” like overly-liberal prescription and patients’ not completing treatment as the biggest drivers of drug resistance. As part of the search for a solution, many researchers are once again giving attention to a medical practice that has long been forgotten in America. In the early 1900s, common medication for many illnesses and infections came from bacteriophages or simply phages, which are natural viruses that destroy bacteria. Phages have been bacteria’s enemy for billions of years, and are found basically everywhere: in dirt, water and our bodies. Phages latch on to the bacterial cell wall and inject their DNA inside of it.

The DNA shuts down the bacteria and reprograms it to make phages instead of bacteria. In as few as 30 minutes, hundreds of phage offspring are produced, who leave to go attack more bacteria, according to Scientific American. They sound scary, but phages only attack their target, leaving human tissue and other bacteria alone. Phages, if the right kinds are selected, are powerful enemies to infection and disease, because unlike antibiotics, they multiply to take down the problem. So why doesn’t the world start using phages to fight infection and disease? They already do. The eastern European countries of Georgia and Russia have medical facilities devoted entirely to phage production. Because the English-speaking western world has “neglected” the history of phage treatment, in 2011 Ohio State University professor of microbiology Stephen Abedon and his colleagues reviewed substantial evidence from Eastern European and French clinical trials to show that phage therapy must be taken seriously as a possible solution to the superbug crisis. “So far as phages are concerned, MRSA is simply another strain of

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The most terrifying aspect of MRSA and other superbugs is that people most often get them at medical facilities.

Staphylococcus,” he writes, citing a handful of cases from Eastern Europe where phages successfully fought MRSA. Abedon cites numerous other cases of phages beating antibiotic resistance, such as a 2001 case involving 32 children with acute eye infections. Not only were the bacteria resistant to antibiotics, but the children were allergic to antibiotics. Phage treatment was employed, and all cases were cured by the seventh day, with no relapses. Abedon also includes accounts from doctors curing patients with resistant infections in skin ulcerations and burn wounds. Phage treatment is an accepted practice in parts of Europe. In the country of Georgia, an organization called the Eliava Institute isolates, tests and produces phages for many different infections. The institute employed 800 people at one point, and produced 2 tons of phages per week. Georgian soldiers in the early 90s carried canisters of phages produced for specific “battlefield strains,” and phage treatment was again used in 2008 during battles between Georgia and Russia. Now, phages are sold over the counter in some countries, for anyone to use. According to an account in Popular Science, a Texan doctor named Randy Wollcott had a patient who wouldn’t respond to any antibiotic treatment. The patient’s leg wound simply wouldn’t heal. So Wolcott did some research, went to the country of Georgia and bought three $2 vials of phages over the counter for his patient, who was cured in three weeks. Wolcott and many others are now engaged in a large effort to bring phage treatment back into America as common medical practice, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stands as a tough hurdle. Some worry that living remedies pose problems that need to be studied in greater detail. And opponents do have some powerful

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arguments. In her 2011 book The Forgotten Cure: The Past and Future of Phage Therapy, Anna Kuchment writes that mingling phage genes with bacteria has given rise to deadly pathogens that cause such terrible diseases as diphtheria, and E. coli 0157. Kuchment writes, however, that phage proponents say they now have the technology to screen out rogue phages. Victor Krylov, MD, Head of the Laboratory for Genetics of Bacteriophages at the Mechnikov Research Institute for Vaccines and Sera in Moscow, Russia, saws that live phages are transducers, meaning they can transfer parts of bacterial genomes between different bacterial hosts. This may be a reason for emerging diseases with new features, he says. But this is just one issue with phage treatment, according to Krylov. Phage therapy with live phages will never be the complete alternative to antibiotics, he says, because phages require direct contact with the pathogenic cell, to making certain infections out of range. Krylov says that others claim to have gotten phages into the blood stream, but he hasn’t. He adds, however, that phage treatment may be “extremely useful” in curing infected wounds like burns and post operational wounds, and may be good for eye, ear and throat diseases. Urology and gynecology may also have use for phages. In the United States, the FDA has already accepted certain phage products, but only for food safety. A phage is sprayed on many foods to kill bacteria there. The United States Army has also funded research into phages to see if they can used to treat troublesome wound infections in Iraq war veterans. America is far from getting phage treatment as a regular thing, however. Doctors who want to give phages must go through a strict approval process and petition regulatory boards. Some researchers are interested in phages because they might

be cheaper than current medicine production practices. Just like with antibiotics, bacteria can become resistant to phages, but isolating a new effective phage can be easier than synthesizing a new antibiotic, according to researchers from MIT. And this ease of development may be necessary. The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) says we currently need new treatments for urinary tract infections, ear infections, food poisoning and boils, to name just a few. “The bacteria that cause these infections are becoming increasingly resistant to the antibiotics that for years have been considered standard of care, and the list of resistant pathogens keeps growing,” an IDSA report states. “It is not possible to predict when an epidemic of drugresistant bacteria will occur—but we do know it will happen.”

Phage to the Face Phage treatment can even be for more docile medical problems, like acne. Acne medication has, over time, become less effective because propionibacterium acnes, the primary bacterial culprit of acne, has become resistant to drugs. Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles recently suggested that phages naturally occurring in our pores could be a new type of treatment. UCLA’s Laura Marinelli, researcher in dermatology, says these phages are always killing the acne bacteria, but that they are far outnumbered in teens with acne. Teens with acne sometimes have a hundred times more acne bacteria than adolescents without it, according to healthland.time.com. For treatment, phages could be put into a cream or something topical that acne sufferers could apply. HEALTHY MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2012

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