Weekly Gravy « Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

If you’re looking to change up that sugary bowl of cold cereal, quinoa and amaranth are nutritious alternatives. These tiny grains (they’re actually seeds) make excellent and hearty breakfasts, and are rich in iron, protein and magnesium along with many other vital nutrients. Cinnamon is the ideal spice to boost the flavor of these hearty grains. Quinoa comes in red, white and black varieties, and any will work for this recipe. Check the package first to see if you need to rinse it, although most brands come pre-washed. To rinse, place quinoa in a fine mesh colander, rinse under cold water and then proceed with the recipe. Morning Quinoa 1 cup quinoa 2 cups water 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter, preferably grass-fed 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 6 large strawberries Place the quinoa in a saucepan with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through and tender. Stir in the cinnamon, butter and vanilla extract. Garnish with strawberries and serve. Yield: 2 servings Amaranth is traditionally popped like corn kernels and is equally delicious as a hot cereal. Hot Chocolate Amaranth Porridge 3/4 cup amaranth 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder 2-1/4 cups water 1 tablespoon honey 1 banana, sliced 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon Place the amaranth and cocoa powder in a large saucepan… read on >

The rotator cuff refers to a group of four distinct muscles and tendons that connect to each shoulder and stabilize the humerus, the upper arm bone. These muscles are engaged when you move your shoulder, and work together to give you the needed range of motion to toss a ball or reach for an object on a high shelf. Baseball pitchers and other athletes aren’t the only people who experience rotator cuff injuries. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons estimates that nearly 2 million Americans see a doctor about a rotator cuff problem every year. Strengthening this group of muscles can help enhance the stability of this important joint and help you avoid injury. Alternating arm and leg lifts: Position yourself on all fours. Your arms are straight, with hands directly below your shoulders and your knees directly below your hips. Tighten your core muscles and simultaneously extend your left leg and your right arm straight out so that they’re both parallel to the floor. With control, lower them, and repeat 10 to 15 times. Then repeat the sequence with your right leg and left arm. Stability ball pushups: Take pushups to another level by doing them with your hands on a stability ball. From the same position on all fours, place your hands on the ball, shoulder width apart, with your upper arms pressed… read on >

They’re gaining in popularity among women, and a new study finds menstrual cups to be just as safe and as effective as disposable pads or tampons. British researchers looked at data on the cost-saving devices, gleaned from 43 studies involving more than 3,300 women and girls worldwide. Reporting July 17 in The Lancet Public Health, the study authors said the research was sorely needed. “Despite the fact that 1.9 billion women globally are of menstruating age — spending on average 65 days a year dealing with menstrual blood flow — few good quality studies exist that compare sanitary products,” said review senior author Penelope Phillips-Howard of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. “We aimed to address this by summarizing current knowledge about leakage, safety and acceptability of menstrual cups, comparing them to other products where possible,” she explained in a journal news release. Rather than absorbing blood flow like pads and tampons, menstrual cups collect it. They are inserted into the vagina and emptied every four to 12 hours. The cups also get around the need for women to continuously purchase disposable products — such as tampons or pads –because they’re made with medical-grade silicone, rubber or latex and can last up to 10 years. One U.S. expert agreed that women need more information on menstrual cups. Christine Metz is director of research in obstetrics… read on >

Even if you are at high risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a little more exercise may buy you time, new research suggests. Folks with elevated levels of a brain protein called beta amyloid tend to be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and experience rapid brain decline later in life, previous research has found. But apparently they can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s through regular exercise, scientists report. “People who had elevated levels of amyloid, which is one of the earliest changes you see with Alzheimer’s disease, had slower rates of cognitive decline and brain volume loss over time if they had greater levels of physical activity,” said lead researcher Jennifer Rabin. She is a scientist with the Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto. It didn’t take much exercise to enjoy this protection, either. The data suggests that people who walked 8,300 to 8,900 steps per day significantly delayed the onset of Alzheimer’s, Rabin said. Previous studies have shown that older people who exercise generally tend to stay sharp longer into old age, but this new research shows physical activity is specifically protective for folks who have these early brain changes related to Alzheimer’s, said Dr. Howard Fillit. He’s executive director and chief science officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. “This population is different than what’s been studied before because… read on >

“Broken heart syndrome” may harm more than just the heart, new research suggests. While the extreme stress of losing a loved one has been linked to heart troubles in prior research, a new study found that one in six people with broken heart syndrome also had cancer. Even worse, they were less likely to survive their cancer five years after diagnosis. “There seems to be a strong interplay between Takotsubo syndrome [broken heart syndrome] and malignancies,” said study senior author Dr. Christian Templin. He’s director of acute cardiac care at University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland. “Therefore, it should be recommended for Takotsubo syndrome patients to participate in cancer screening to improve overall survival,” he said, adding that the reverse is also true. Still, the study did not prove that one causes the other. Broken heart syndrome causes sudden intense chest pain and shortness of breath that can be mistaken for a heart attack. These symptoms are a reaction to a sudden surge in stress hormones, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). The condition causes the heart’s main pumping chamber to enlarge, the researchers said. And that means the heart can’t pump blood effectively. Broken heart syndrome can happen after just about any intensely emotional experience. The death of a loved one, a breakup or divorce, financial problems and even an intensely positive experience like… read on >

You might think that stress affects you only emotionally or that a lack of sleep simply leaves you feeling cranky. But these are among the many lifestyle factors that can lead to health problems because of changes that they cause within your body’s cells. Packed inside every cell is your DNA and its strands of chromosomes. Chromosomes are protected, top and bottom, by sections called telomeres. The health of these “end caps” is crucial to your health and longevity. If they become damaged, meaning shortened, because of poor lifestyle choices such as a bad diet or lack of sleep, your health can suffer. Shortened telomeres may, for instance, be the link between not getting enough quality sleep and developing chronic health conditions. Stress is another risk factor for telomere damage. Small studies have found that people who experience sustained stress have shorter telomeres and a greater risk of disease. This seems to be particularly true for those with an anxiety disorder. Obesity may also play a role in telomere damage. But there’s good news. A research review published in The Journals of Gerontology reports that telomeres can react positively to healthy lifestyle choices, so you can influence their health. Aim for a healthy diet and a healthy weight, get lots of exercise and proper rest, and find ways to manage stress. While research has yet… read on >

Sweet plums and peaches are great on their own, a good source of potassium and a sweet low-cal snack with only 40 calories each. But you can also use them as the foundation of dishes perfect for summer entertaining. When it comes to picking out the best stone fruit, look for firm, unblemished skins — no scratches or bruises. If they’re firm to the touch, let them rest on a countertop or windowsill or in a basket for four to five days until ripe. If you love fruit pies, but not their calorie overload, fruit crisps are a great swap. They’re lower in calories because they have only a streusel topping, no pie crust. This also makes them easier to prepare. Stone Fruit Crisp 4 plums, halved, pitted and thinly sliced 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or cinnamon 1/2 pint raspberries For the streusel: 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened 1/3 cup rolled oats Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the plum slices in a large bowl along with the lemon juice, vanilla and ground black pepper (for a spicy kick) or cinnamon (for a sweet kick). Toss well. Arrange plums in an 8-inch square baking dish, overlapping them slightly, and then sprinkle with the… read on >

— (HealthDay News) Even with long-term treatment, HIV can still be found in the cerebrospinal fluid of some people with the AIDS-causing virus, a new study reports. And these patients are at increased risk of having thinking problems, the researchers say. “It is difficult to target infections that lurk in the brain, and HIV is probably not an exception to the rule,” said study senior author Dr. John Mellors, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh. “We have our work cut out for us in the quest for an HIV cure, but knowing is half the battle, so I’m cautiously optimistic,” he said in a university news release. Researchers analyzed cerebrospinal fluid from 69 people with HIV who had been on anti-HIV therapy for an average of nine years. The study found that nearly half the participants had cells harboring HIV. Of those who had HIV-harboring cells in their cerebrospinal fluid, 30% met criteria for thinking problems (cognitive impairment), compared with 11% of those without HIV-harboring cells in their cerebrospinal fluid. The findings may help explain why people with well-controlled HIV can have memory and concentration problems and difficulty completing complex tasks, according to the researchers. They also said that the results show that the brain is an important reservoir for HIV, a challenge that needs to be considered in clinical trials of… read on >

Imagine this: You open a bag of fresh salad greens and out pops a lizard. Or worse. Unfortunately, that scenario is more common than many might think. Researchers analyzed online news between 2003 and 2018 and found 40 articles about U.S. consumers discovering live, dead or severed parts of animals in their produce. More than half of the cases involved frogs, but lizards, snakes, mice, birds and even a bat were found in salad greens, green beans or mixed vegetables. Ten of the animals — nine frogs and one lizard — were found alive. In three-quarters of the cases, the produce was conventionally grown, not organic. “It was implied over and over in these articles: If you buy organic, getting a frog is par for the course, essentially,” said study author Daniel Hughes, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. “If that was true, we should have seen the opposite of what we found. We did not take into account market-share differences between conventional and organic produce, but this result ran contrary to common opinion,” Hughes said in a university news release. Only one of the incidents — a dead bat found in a package of salad greens in Florida in 2017 — led to a recall, according to the study published on July 20 in the journal… read on >

If you skip or skimp on breakfast, grab a quick lunch and then load up at dinner, your food intake is likely out of sync with your body’s needs. Not getting calories when you really need them (hint: during the day) could be why you’re having a hard time shedding pounds or finding the energy to exercise. Here’s how to rebalance your calorie intake. One approach, recommended by sports fitness dietitian Nancy Clark, is to divide your daily intake into four equal meals — breakfast, lunch, a second lunch eaten midafternoon, and dinner — with the calories for the second lunch coming from the ones you’re probably taking in during late-night snacking. This keeps your body fueled throughout the day so you have the energy you need when you need it. Front loading calories also seems to speed weight loss, according to research published in the International Journal of Obesity. Researchers from the University of Murcia, in Spain, tracked 420 participants on a 20-week weight-loss program. All followed a Mediterranean lifestyle with lunch being the main meal of the day. Half were “early” lunch eaters, eating before 3 p.m., and half ate later. Over the study, the early lunch eaters lost significantly more weight than those who ate later (and who also tended to skip or eat less at breakfast than the early lunchers), even… read on >

Weekly Gravy

Look Good – Feel Good – Feed Good

A little about: Weekly Gravy

All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

Wake Up Your Breakfast With Delicious Whole Grains

Exercises to Head Off a Painful Rotator Cuff Injury

Menstrual Cups Equal Pads, Tampons in Effectiveness, Data Shows

At Risk for Alzheimer’s? Exercise Might Help Keep It at Bay

Can a Broken Heart Contribute to Cancer?

How to Protect Your DNA for Big Health Benefits

Healthy, Delicious Cooking With Summer’s Peaches, Plums

HIV Lurking in Spinal Fluid Linked to Thinking Problems

Would You Like a Lizard With That Salad?

Timing Is Everything When It Comes to Calorie Intake