All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

How should a person eat in middle age to protect their health as they grow older? One diet came out a clear winner in a 30-year study involving more than 105,000 men and women and eight diets, researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine. People whose dietary pattern more closely stuck to the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) in middle-age had the greatest likelihood of good health in their 70s, researchers say. Those with the highest AHEI score had 86% better odds of healthy aging at 70, and were 2.2 times more likely to be healthy at 75, results show. The AHEI centers on a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes and healthy fats, and low in red and processed meats, sugary drinks, sodium and refined grains, researchers said. “Our findings suggest that dietary patterns rich in plant-based foods, with moderate inclusion of healthy animal-based foods, may promote overall healthy aging and help shape future dietary guidelines,” co-senior researcher Marta Guasch-Ferré, an associate professor of public health at the University of Copenhagen and adjunct associate professor of nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in a news release. Harvard researchers created the AHEI in 2002 as an alternative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Healthy Eating Index, which measures how well people’s diets stick to the federal Dietary…  read on >  read on >

A rare red meat allergy, usually linked to a bite from the lone star tick, may also be caused by other tick species found in different parts of the U.S., a new report shows. “Alpha-gal syndrome is relatively rare, but those who have it can have a full-on anaphylactic shock,” Douglas Norris, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said in a report from NBC News. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates nearly 450,000 people in the U.S. have this condition. Most cases are linked to the lone star tick, which is common in the Southeast and lower Midwest.  But new case reports from Maine and Washington state found two women who developed alpha-gal syndrome after being bitten by ticks in places where lone star ticks aren’t common. This suggests that other types of ticks, like the black-legged tick (also called deer tick) that transmits the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and the western black-legged tick, may also cause the condition. “We do believe the lone star tick is still responsible for most of the cases of alpha-gal syndrome in the U.S.,” Dr. Johanna Salzer, a veterinary medical officer and epidemiologist with the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, told NBC News. In the Washington case, a 61-year-old woman went into anaphylactic shock…  read on >  read on >

Folks frequently use their smartwatches to monitor their daily step count, aiming to get enough physical activity to improve their health. But smartwatches are tracking another measure of health that could prove even more important, a new study suggests. Smartwatches also capture a person’s average daily heart rate, and dividing that by their daily number of steps provides a more reliable measure of a person’s heart fitness than either number on its own, according to research to be presented in Chicago Saturday at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology. “The metric we developed looks at how the heart responds to exercise, rather than exercise itself,” lead researcher Zhanlin Chen, a medical student at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release. “It’s a more meaningful metric because it gets at the core issue of capturing the heart’s capacity to adjust under stress as physical activity fluctuates throughout the day,” he added. “Our metric is a first attempt at capturing that with a wearable device.” Generally, people are recommended to get 10,000 steps a day, although the number has varied from study to study. For this new study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 7,000 American adults who provided Fitbit data and their electronic health records to an National Institutes of Health research program. All told, the data reflected 51…  read on >  read on >

People dealing with heart disease, diabetes or obesity are behind the eight ball when it comes to their chances of living longer. But they can improve their odds if they start following a healthy plant-based diet, according to a study scheduled for presentation Saturday in Chicago at a meeting of the American College of Cardiology. Closer adherence to a healthy plant-based diet is linked to a 17% to 24% reduced risk of premature death from any cause, heart disease or cancer, researchers report. “These findings may help individuals with cardiometabolic disorders make heathier lifestyle choices,” lead researcher Dr. Zhangling Chen of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University in Changsha, China, said in a news release. Not all plant-based foods are healthy, however. Refined grains, potatoes and sugary drinks can pack on extra pounds and cause blood sugar to spike, researchers noted. As a result, people who have an unhealthy plant-based diet with more of those foods have a 28% to 36% increased risk of early death from any cause, heart disease or cancer, results show. “More intake of healthy plant-based foods, less intake of unhealthy plant-based foods and less intake of animal-based foods are all important,” Chen said. For the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 78,000 people with obesity, heart disease or diabetes who participated in large studies in the U.K., U.S.…  read on >  read on >

Spring break is a time to relax and enjoy a respite from the daily grind. But whether you’re flying, driving or taking a cruise, it’s essential to take care of your health while traveling. Dr. W. Graham Carlos, a professor of clinical medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine, offers key advice to help you stay healthy during your trip. “Crowded environments like airports, bus, train stations are great places to pick up viruses like norovirus and flu, so pay attention to good hand hygiene,” he said in a news release. “For those traveling south or to the sun, remember to pack sunscreen and stay hydrated as your skin and body have not acclimated to the warmer temperatures. Finally, use the time together to try to disconnect from media and connect with your family and friends with a specific plan to talk about mental and emotional well-being,” Carlos said. How you travel can make a difference in the precautions you take.  “Crowded environments increase the risk of exposure to various infectious diseases that can ruin your trip. Pay attention to hand hygiene in particular. Some people may wish to wear a mask for an extended time on a plane. For those driving to their destination, remember to get plenty of rest before a long trip and stop frequently to recharge,” Carlos added. For both…  read on >  read on >

There’s nothing like the feeling of years of hard work paying off — when you can finally transition to a life of non-work activities, whether it’s traveling, diving into personal projects or even learning a new language.  But retirement in a warm, affordable country may come with an unexpected downside: loneliness. A new study suggests that retirees who move abroad often experience greater social isolation than those who stay in their home state. The research, published recently in Psychology and Aging, compared nearly 5,000 Dutch retirees living abroad to more than 1,300 who stayed in the Netherlands.  It found that retirees who moved overseas were more socially isolated, even though they were often healthier and wealthier than those who stayed. “Although these retirement migrants generally report being happy, they may still face struggles adapting to a new country,” lead author Esma Betül Savaş, a doctoral researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographics Institute, said in a news release. Social loneliness comes from a lack of a broad circle of friends, while emotional loneliness is tied to a lack of close friends or partner. The study found that, overall, retirees who moved abroad had higher levels of social loneliness.  But those who stayed connected with friends and family back home or built strong relationships in their new country felt less isolated. Researchers also found that those who…  read on >  read on >

Night owls — people who stay up late — have been shown to have an increased risk of depression. And now a new study says why that might be. Dusk dwellers tend to be less mindful — that is, less engaged in the present moment, researchers found. That, along with poor sleep quality and higher alcohol consumption, are likely explanations for their increased depression risk, researchers reported in the journal PLOS One. “Importantly, we considered the different facets of mindfulness as factors,” concluded the team led by senior researcher Simon Evans, a lecturer in neuroscience of the University of Surrey in the U.K.  “Results pointed specifically to a protective role of the ‘acting with awareness’ facet,” in which people engage fully in the present moment and carry out actions with deliberate attention rather than on autopilot, researchers wrote. For the study, researchers surveyed nearly 550 university students using an online questionnaire. Students reported information on their sleep patterns, mindfulness, alcohol use and levels of depression and anxiety. The responses revealed that night owls were indeed more likely to report symptoms of depression compared to average sleepers, researchers report. Night owls also had worse sleep quality than average sleepers or morning birds, and they tended to consume more alcohol. These results jibe with earlier studies linking bad sleep and alcohol to depression, researchers noted. But this…  read on >  read on >

Lowering the volume on earbuds or wearing earplugs in noisy environments is known to reduce a person’s risk of tinnitus. Now, new research suggests that eating more fruit and fiber or drinking more milk and coffee may also stave off the vexing and persistent buzzing that can drive folks to distraction. Simple dietary changes appear to reduce people’s risk of developing tinnitus, researchers reported in The BMJ. “Diet-based strategies for tinnitus prevention are anticipated to play a significant role in chronic tinnitus management,” the research team led by senior researcher Qinxiu Zhang with the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan, China, concluded. “Existing evidence suggests that consuming fruit, dietary fiber, caffeine and dairy may be associated with a reduced incidence of tinnitus,” researchers wrote. About one in every six (14%) adults has tinnitus, researchers said in background notes. Although exposure to loud noise is a key risk factor for the hearing problem, “the origins of tinnitus remain elusive and involve a range of factors,” researchers wrote. For the evidence review, researchers pooled data from eight previous studies that looked at potential links between tinnitus and diet. The studies involved more than 300,000 people. Results showed that increased consumption of certain foods reduced tinnitus risk: Fruits by 35% Dairy by 17% Caffeine by 10% Fiber by 9%. These foods might influence tinnitus risk by…  read on >  read on >

Doctors should prescribe triptans for migraine patients who aren’t receiving relief from over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers, according to a new clinical guideline from the American College of Physicians. The recommendation is based on an evidence review showing that adding a triptan to either a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) or acetaminophen worked better to quell migraine pain and headache than OTC products alone, researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine. This combination therapy “resulted in a higher likelihood of sustained pain relief up to 48 hours after initial treatment and lower likelihood of using rescue medication at 24 hours,” compared with using a triptan alone, said the research team led by Dr. Carolyn Crandall, an internist with the UCLA School of Medicine. “In addition, combination therapy of a triptan and an NSAID probably results in a higher likelihood of achieving pain relief at 2 hours and sustained pain freedom at 48 hours,” researchers added. Triptan drugs treat migraines by changing the way blood circulates in the brain, and the way the brain processes pain signals, according to the Cleveland Clinic. “Using a triptan alone has historically been the first-line treatment of episodic migraine,” reads a summary for patients provided by the ACP. Episodic migraine occurs when a person has less than 15 headache days a month. By contrast, chronic migraine occurs when an individual has…  read on >  read on >