I know  many people who consume artificial sweeteners from their lo-cal candy, diet soft drinks, and sugar free gum without giving it a second thought. They may not be getting the calories but they may be getting more than  expected. It may not seem like much but because you absorb less of the nutrients from your food as you age, getting the right amount of nutrients is important and you’re not going to get them from artificial sweeteners. Read the rest of this entry

I will probably understand a lot more about food additives when I finish reading David Kessler’s book, The End of Overeating.  In the meantime I can think of a major additive that needs discussion.

Whenever we go out to dinner with a couple we’ve known for years, the wife always asks that no MSG be added. Years ago I thought that was a question you only asked when you were eating Chinese but I was quickly informed that cooks use this additive anywhere.

Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, is an amino acid used as a flavor enhance in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. It is commonly associated with Asian foods and flavorings. Using MSG allows cooks or companies in processed foods, to reduce the amount of real ingredients in their foods such as the chicken in chicken soup. MSG reduces costs.

Since 1960 the use of MSG has cau8sed some concern when it was discovered that large amounts of MSG fed to infant mice destroyed nerve cells in the brain. This research forced baby food companies to stop adding MSG to their products. Even so, MSG may be hidden in infant formula, low fat milk, candy, drinks, over the counter medications, as a finder, as filler for nutritional supplements, and in prescription drugs.

Children are more sensitive to MSG than adults. Neonatal exposure to MSG can cause a permanent reduction in the secretion of growth hormone. Other reactions, by both children and adults, include headaches, nausea, weakness, wheezing, changes in heart rate, and difficulty breathing.

The following ingredients on a label also indicated MSG:

• Monosodium Glutamate

• Hydrolyzed  protein, soy or any type;

• Autolyzed yeast

• Monosodium glutamate

• Free glutamate

• Yeast extract

• Caseinate.

I don’t know if you can completely eliminate MSG from your diet but you certainly can take a good stab at  it, mentioning it at restaurants, and certainly not cooking with the ingredient. I didn’t realize this topic of food additives was so big. I want to mention one more additive, artificial sweeteners, but that topic is huge by itself.

The wonderful thing about all this information is that it is never too late to think about doing it for yourself, for your kids and your grandchildren.

To your healthy aging success.

Ruthan

I have seen these labels before, when I purchased the product and sometimes when I first opened the jar or the can or the lotion. This time when I look at them I am seeing the ingredients with new thinking.

I understand that many people have been on the do not tolerate food additives for years and actively advocate their belief that this stuff is killing us. I am not there!. Right now I am in the exploring stage and my thesis about food additives is evolving.  The first part of this thesis is that my options for products would be very small if I eliminated all the food additives that are suggested to delete.  Secondly, I suspect it’s another one of that risk versus reward decisions. For example, is the risk of ingesting the food additive worse than the can of tomato sauce going rancid?

At this point I don’t know and I suspect my answer would be: it depends.  It depends on whether:

• I’m the population that would be at greatest risk?

• How frequently I use that brand of tomato sauce?

• Maybe it won’t get rancid for 2 weeks so I should purchase a can with no additives?

• If I were raising young children again would I think differently?

My thinking about food additives is moving where so much of my deliberating travels: the answer isn’t black or white. There may not be, there probably isn’t a yes or no. It all depends.

I am sure you have thought about food additives more than once. What is your take on the topic? It certainly fits in with the go green movement and seasonal fruits and vegetables and organically fed meats and poultry. How far do you go with food additives?   Type your comments and let’s share some of our thinking.

To your successful healthy aging,

Ruthan

I was in the drugstore this morning to purchase a facial cleansing cream that my dermatologist recommended. I looked at the ingredients and I was dumbfounded. I don’t think I want to put half of those ingredients on my skin. Read the rest of this entry

Before people develop Type 2 diabetes, a condition called pre-diabetes usually takes place. Interestingly, this condition arrives gradually but usually without warning. There may be no signs of it or the signs are so insignificant that no one pays attention. However, if you are 45 years or older, pay attention, because that is the age when problems with blood sugar control usually begin.

Also known as impaired glucose intolerance by the medical profession, prediabetes is a term that refers to the 41 million people I the U.S. who have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.

Recognizing the importance of diagnosing pre-diabetes because  treatment of the condition may prevent type 2 diabetes as well as all those complications associated with type 2 diabetes. Doctors now know that the complications associated with prediabetes, such as heart and blood vessel disease and eye and kidney disease, take place before the diabetes diagnosis is made.

You are at risk for developing Type 2 Diabetes if you fall within one of these categories:

• Have a family history of type 2 diabetes;

• You are a woman who had gestational diabetes or had a baby weighing more than  9 pounds;

• You are a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS;

• You are African American, Native American, Latino, or Pacific Islander, minority groups that are more affected by diabetes;

• You are overweight or obese especially around the abdomen;

• You have high cholesterol, high triglycerides and high blood pressure;

• You are inactive;

• You are over 70 because as people age they are less able to process glucose the right way.

Treatment for pre diabetes

• Eat a healthy diet and lose weight

A 5 percent to 10 percent reduction in weight makes a huge difference.

• Exercise at least 30 minutes for 5 days a week. You can split the activity up into shorter periods. Select an activity you enjoy so you will stay with the exercise.

• Stop smoking.

Treat high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

In other words, choose a healthy lifestyle and stay with it.

I’d love to learn about your ways that you deal with your sugar problems especially if they work well for you. I’d like to share them with our readers. Scroll down to the blank window and write your suggestion in the blank window.
Thanks for your participation.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

If you are not exercising, if you are overweight, and if you are eating a diet heavy in starchy, sugary goods, you are setting yourself up for diabetes. Read the rest of this entry

As long as I’ve got your attention on hypertension this past week I thought you might want to make sure you know just a little more to dispel the myths and maintain your own health.

First, be aware that some medical conditions can cause or contribute to high blood pressure.  These include anemia, an overactive thyroid, kidney disease, a malfunctioning aortic valve or sleep apnea. Blood pressure reflects both the amount of blood the heart pumps out every minute which is called cardiac output. It also reflects the pressure the walls of the arteries exert on the flowing blood. A healthy artery expands as blood surges through it and returns to its normal shape when the blood flow ebbs. The problem is that as we get older our arteries tend to lose their elasticity and we’re not as capable to accommodate the surges of blood.

Another change is that we tend to accumulate more fatty deposits or plaque on the inside of arterial walls and that also contributes to the artery-clogging process known as hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis. When plaque accumulates it also stimulates other processes that thicken the wall even more.  This makes the artery wall less flexible and as artery walls stiffen, the diastolic blood pressure tends to drop while the systolic pressure rises. Not good.

If you are a female about 55 years old you probably have a lower incidence of hypertension than men. However after that your blood pressure tends to rise even more so than men’s.  Even so it is not clear how menopause and the resulting decline in estrogen affect blood pressure. Maybe info on that next year.

The point of all this is have your doctor check out your medical conditions like anemia before you start taking medications for high blood pressure.  The next step is for you to make a healthier lifestyle for yourself such as losing weight, exercising, cutting out the salt in your diet and, of course,  no smoking. If lifestyle by itself doesn’t get your bp down, then meds are your next step.

For more info on your heart and a downloadable blood pressure-tracking chart visit the American Heart Association’s High Blood Pressure Web page.

To your successful healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

As long as you are going to pay more attention to your blood pressure, take a few minutes and learn more about how your blood pressure works and keeps everything pumping.

The two numbers in a blood pressure reading represent the peak pressure reached in your heart’s pumping cycle. The top number is the systolic pressure and the bottom number is the diastolic pressure which is the lowest pressure you have during the resting phase of the cycle.

The entire result is measured in millimeters of mercury (mm.Hg) and written with the systolic pressure number over the diastolic.  For instance, your blood pressure may read 110/80 mm Hg. That would be considered normal. A high blood pressure reading would be 140/80 mm Hg or 120/90 mmHg.

Keep in mind that blood pressure naturally rises and falls throughout the day so a single reading doesn’t tell you much. What does matter is the pattern over time. You are diagnosed with high blood pressure only if your doctor finds a consistently elevated level over several months.

In 2003 the Joint National committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure stated that in people over age 50 an elevated systolic reading (top) such as 140 Hg or higher is a more significant risk of cardiovascular disease than the diastolic reading. Other research indicates that just treating high systolic pressure cuts the risk of stroke in people ages 60 or more.

Again, this is important to keep in mind because by the age of 60, high blood pressure affects about half the population . Fortunately, lifestyle changes and sometimes medication can successfully treat the condition. For instance, if you are heavy, every 2 pounds of weight you lose can  reduce your pressure. If you have no complicating health problems, the goal is to reduce blood pressure to under 140-/90 mm Hg.

If you have issues with your bp tell us what you are doing to manage your blood pressure.

To your successful healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

Your blood pressure tends to get higher as you get older. You may have gone thru life with a normal bp for your first 45 or 55 or even 60 years and then your doctor tells you your bp is up. Read the rest of this entry