The Telangana Science Journal

Health and Nutrition

(An International Electronic Science Digest Published from the United States of America)
(Dedicated to one of the most backward regions in India, "Telangana," My Fatherland )

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Issue 128

5110 Kali Era, Sarvadhari Year, Sravana month
2066 Vikramarka Era, Sarvadhari Year,  Sravana month
1930 Salivahana Era
Sarvadhari Year, Sravana month
 2008 AD, August


Contents
Home

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Vedah

   
Diet and Exercise

Healthy Living Longer

Miscellaneous

Prostate Cancer
Inactive American Kids
Arsenic Causes Diabetes even at Low Levels
Fertility of American Woman

Recipes

Vegetarian Lentil and Rice Quiche
Spinach With Spices and Yogurt

Vegetarian Recipes


   
Diet and Exercise

Healthy Living Longer
In The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition last year, Dr. Rivlin noted that changes in body composition, like loss of bone and muscle and accumulation of body fat, typically accompany aging and can affect health in a variety of ways: poor posture that impairs breathing; falls and fractures; loss of mobility; a reduced metabolic rate; and weight gain that can lead to diabetes, heart and blood vessel disease and some forms of cancer.  But these changes in body composition, he added, “are not an invariable accompaniment of aging.” Much can be done to limit and even reverse them, he said, including restricting calories and limited saturated fat and replacing simple sugars with whole grains rich in fiber.

A second critical measure for the 70-year-olds is to “make regular exercise a part of their daily lifestyle,” including aerobic activities that raise the heart rate; weight-bearing activities that strengthen muscles and bones; and stretching exercises that reduce stiffness and improve flexibility and balance.

Another age-related concern is cognitive decline, which is more likely in people with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of modifiable risk factors that includes abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and abnormal cholesterol levels.

The primary modifiable predictors of longevity were:  not smoking; preventing diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure; and exercising regularly.

“Compared with nonsurvivors, men with exceptional longevity had a healthier lifestyle, had a lower incidence of chronic diseases and were three to five years older at disease onset,” the Boston team reported in February in The Archives of Internal Medicine. “They had better late-life physical function and mental well-being. More than 68 percent rated their late-life health as excellent or very good, and less than 8 percent reported fair or poor health.”

Other long-term studies have also pinpointed exercise as the single most potent predictor of healthy longevity, in women as well as in men. It is not that very old people like Judge Ibañez can exercise because they are healthy, these findings indicate. Rather, they achieve a healthy old age because they exercise.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/26/health/26brod.html?em


Miscellaneous
Prostate Cancer
Researchers are gathering preliminary evidence on several dietary factors that may influence the risk.
Saturated fat: Population studies show that Asian men living in Asia have a 2 percent lifetime risk of prostate cancer; when they move to the United States, the risk in the next generation jumps to 10 percent. One possible reason: the fatty Western diet. A number of studies have shown that men who eat more animal fat have a higher rate of prostate cancer.
Vitamin D: Recent studies show that men who have higher intakes of vitamin D have a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer.
Lycopene: Higher intake of a substance called lycopene — an antioxidant found in produce such as tomatoes, watermelon, pink grapefruit and guava — also seems to be associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer. Some studies have linked prostate cancer to a low intake of fresh fruits and vegetables in general.
Calcium: A few studies have linked prostate cancer to a higher intake of calcium, which is found mainly in dairy products.
For most men over age 75, treatment based on prostate cancer screening causes more harm than benefit. That’s the position of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which issued new guidelines on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for older men. There is not sufficient evidence that detecting and treating prostate cancer in men over 75 leads to fewer cancer deaths, the task force said in a statement. But treatment can lead to erectile dysfunction and bladder control and bowel problems. The new guidelines were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.


Inactive American Kids
Many immigrant children get even less vigorous exercise than their U.S.-born counterparts, the largest study of its kind suggests. Plenty of earlier evidence shows that U.S. children are pretty inactive. The new study of nearly 70,000 children simply found even lower levels of activity among immigrants.

Almost 18 percent of foreign-born children with immigrant parents got no vigorous exercise on any days of the week, and 56 percent didn't participate in organized sports. By contrast, 11 percent of U.S.-born children with American parents got no vigorous exercise, and 41 percent didn't participate in sports.

Given the obesity epidemic and immigrants accounting for about 13 percent of the U.S. population, it is important to know whether there are ethnic differences in physical activity and sedentary behaviors, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services's Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Here's how the researchers explain their results: Immigrant families surveyed were on the whole poorer than nonimmigrants and lived in less safe neighborhoods. That means they likely had less time for exercise and sports, and worse access to places to engage in those activities. But also, many immigrant parents place a high emphasis on reading, language lessons, studying and other inactive pursuits. Rates for other immigrants who got no vigorous activity were 13 percent for blacks, almost 10 percent for whites and 7 percent for Asians and Indians. For no participation in sports, the rates were 49 percent for blacks, 38 percent for Asians and Indians and 32 percent for whites.  The results in Hispanics are troubling because of high rates of obesity and diabetes -- both related to inactivity -- among Hispanics, the nation's largest immigrant group. More research is needed to verify results in Asians and Indians because relatively few Asians and Indians were studied.  Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

In addition, parents looking for healthy meal choices for their children are likely to find slim pickings on the menus of the nation's top restaurant chains, according to a report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.  Nearly every possible combination of the children's meals at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A are too high in calories, the report said.  The report notes that eating out now accounts for a third of children's daily caloric intake, twice the amount consumed away from home 30 years ago. The report found that 45 percent of children's meals exceed recommendations for saturated and trans fat, which can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease, and 86 percent of children's meals are high in sodium.



Arsenic Causes Diabetes even at Low Levels
A new analysis of government data is the first to link low-level arsenic exposure, possibly from drinking water, with Type 2 diabetes, researchers say. The study's limitations make more research necessary. And public water systems were on their way to meeting tougher U.S. arsenic standards as the data were collected.


Fertility of American Woman
In the last 30 years, the number of women age 40 to 44 with no children has doubled, from 10 percent to 20 percent. And those who are mothers have an average of 1.9 children each, more than one child fewer than women of the same age in 1976. The report, Fertility of American Women: 2006, is the first from the Census Bureau to use data from an annual survey of 76 million women, ages 15 to 50, allowing a state-by-state comparison of fertility patterns.

Unemployed women had about twice as many babies as working women, although women in the labor force accounted for the majority, 57 percent, of recent births. Only a quarter of all women who had a child over the past year were living below the poverty level.  Coupled with fertility data collected biannually, the report also revealed longer term trends, including how second-generation Hispanic women are having fewer babies than their foreign-born grandmothers and first-generation American mothers.






Recipes
   
Vegetarian Lentil and Rice Quiche
2 cups rice; 1 tsbp margarine; 1 egg, slightly beaten (or egg substitute); 1 cup grated Swiss cheese; 1/2 cup sliced onions; 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms; 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper; 1 cup cooked lentils; 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley; 2 eggs (egg substitute); 2 cups milk; 2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper.

Preparation:
In a medium sized bowl, combine cooked rice, melted margarine, and egg-substitute. Pour into a buttered 9-inch pie plate, pressing against the sides and bottom to form a crust. Sprinkle one-half of the grated cheese on the bottom of the rice crust. Layer the vegetables and lentils on the cheese. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the vegetables. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Combine egg-substitute, milk, salt and pepper in a small bowl and carefully pour over the quiche filling. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted two inches from the center returns clean. (Center should be very moist and not quite set when quiche is done. It will set up quickly). Let quiche stand for 5 minutes before serving.


Spinach With Spices and Yogurt
Variations of this dish are found from Turkey through the Middle East, and no wonder -- a combination of subtle spices and cool yogurt make this a wonderful way to eat spinach.

Ingredients: 1 clove (1/8 teaspoon ground); 2 allspice berries (1/8 teaspoon ground); 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds or cumin seeds; 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 garlic clove, cut in half, green shoots removed (more to taste); Salt to taste; 1 cup drained yogurt; 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil; 1 tablespoon pine nuts; 1 12-ounce bag baby spinach, washed.

Directions: 1. Heat a small dry skillet over medium heat, and add the clove, allspice berries, and coriander seeds or cumin seeds. Heat, shaking the pan, until the spices begin to smell toasty, about three minutes. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool for a few minutes, then grind in a spice mill. Add the cinnamon, and set aside. 2. In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to a paste, and stir into the yogurt. Set aside. 3. Place the baby spinach in a bowl, and add just enough boiling water to cover. Let sit for a couple of minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water, squeeze out excess water, and chop coarsely.  4. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a wide, heavy skillet, and add the pine nuts. Stir until they begin color (two to three minutes), then remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the spices to the oil. When they begin to sizzle, cook for about 30 seconds and add the spinach, toasted pine nuts, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring, until the spinach is heated through and coated with the oil and spices, two to three minutes. Transfer to a serving dish, and spoon the yogurt over the top.

This is very nice served with Arabic bread.

Variation: Omit the pine nuts, and instead sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped walnuts over the yogurt.

Yield: Serves three

Advance preparation: The spinach can be wilted up to three days ahead and kept in the refrigerator.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/health/nutrition/29recipehealth.html?_r=1&ref=health&oref=slogin


Vegetarian Recipes
http://www.vegcooking.com/?c=vcgavrg08&gclid=CMXf48yTt5UCFQMLswodu2M_RA




Notice: This material contains only general descriptions and is not a solicitation to sell any insurance product or security, nor is it intended as any financial, tax, medical or health care advice. For information about specific needs or situations, contact your financial, tax agent or physician.
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Source: The primary sources cited above,  New York Times (NYT), Washington Post (WP), Mercury News, Bayarea.com, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, Intellihealthnews, Deccan Chronicle (DC), the Hindu, Hindustan Times, Times of India, AP, Reuters, AFP, womenfitness.net, about.com etc.




Copyright ©1998-2008
Vepachedu Educational Foundation, Inc
Copyright Vepachedu Educational Foundation Inc., 2007.  All rights reserved.  All information is intended for your general knowledge only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for special medical conditions or any specific health issues or starting a new fitness regimen. Please read disclaimer.





Om! Asatoma Sadgamaya, Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya, Mrityorma Amritamgamaya, Om Shantih, Shantih, Shantih!
(Om! Lead the world from wrong path to the right path, from ignorance to knowledge, from mortality to immortality and peace!)
One World One Family





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