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As a tool to reduce the public health toll of drinking, higher taxes on alcohol get the most bang for the buck, a new study finds. Worldwide, more than 4 percent of diseases and 5 percent of deaths are directly linked with alcohol, previous research suggests. In this study, researchers looked at data from 16 countries to find out which of five alcohol-control strategies would be most cost-effective in reducing alcohol-related harm and deaths. Their conclusion: A 50 percent increase in alcohol excise taxes (those included in the price) would cost less than $100 for each healthy year of life gained in the overall population. And it would add 500 healthy years of life for every 1 million people, the researchers said. Such a tax increase would be pennies per drink, according to the study published Aug. 9 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. “Tax increases may not sound the most attractive of policy options but are the single most cost-effective way of diminishing demand and reigning back consumption,” lead researcher Dan Chisholm said in a journal news release. Chisholm is a program manager for mental health with the World Health Organization in Copenhagen, Denmark. Previous studies showed that state excise taxes in the United States average 3 cents for a 12-ounce beer or 5-ounce glass of wine and 5 cents for… read on >

Eating fewer calories is essential when you want to lose weight, but there’s growing evidence that the quality of those calories matters, too. Eating high-quality foods not only boosts weight loss, but also reduces your risk for chronic diseases. High-quality foods are fresh or minimally processed. Think vegetables and fruits, whole grains, plant-based fats and healthy sources of protein. Fresh or flash frozen choices are best. If you need to buy canned foods, look for no-sugar, no-salt added varieties. Lower-quality foods typically contain refined grains like white flour and various sugars. They’re usually processed and packaged, and high in saturated and/or trans fats — even though manufacturers are supposed to eliminate trans fats, the deadlines to do so have been extended. One study showed just how strong the association is between low-quality foods and gaining weight. When people ate more foods like potato chips, sugar-sweetened beverages, and red and processed meats — and fewer vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts and yogurt — they put on nearly one pound a year. Unchecked, over time, those pounds can start adding up … to obesity. Another study found that increasing the quality of fruit, meat, grains and dairy boosted weight loss after just 12 weeks. To make the switchover easier on yourself, set an attainable goal of eating one new or different high-quality food at least once every… read on >

Ace hitters like Barry Bonds and Derek Jeter probably can confirm this: Baseball players with faster hand-eye coordination are better batters, a new study finds. This is especially true when it comes to measures of “plate discipline,” like drawing walks and swinging at pitches in the strike zone, researchers said. “Batters with better eye-hand visual motor reaction time appear to be more discerning in deciding to swing at pitches as compared [to those with] poorer visual-motor reaction time,” wrote study leader Dr. Daniel Laby and colleagues. Laby is with the State University of New York College of Optometry. Their findings from tests of 450 professional baseball players appear in the July issue of the journal Optometry and Vision Science. They found that players with the fastest hand-eye coordination drew walks 22 percent more often than those with the slowest hand-eye coordination — an average of one walk per 10 times at bat, compared with one walk per 13 times at bat, respectively. Players with the fastest hand-eye coordination were also 6 to 7 percent more likely to swing at pitches in the strike zone and to swing at fastballs in the strike zone, rather than curveballs or other off-speed pitches, the researchers found. “One could hypothesize that faster eye-hand reaction time allows the batter an opportunity to be selective in which pitches he ultimately decides… read on >

Middle-aged people who drink moderately — no more than a glass of wine a day — may have a relatively lower risk of developing dementia later in life, researchers report. The study, which followed 9,000 British adults for over two decades, found that both heavier drinkers and abstainers had a higher dementia risk than moderate drinkers. Moderate drinking was defined according to the recommended drinking limits in the United Kingdom: no more than 14 “units” of alcohol per week. That translates to one medium-sized glass of wine, or roughly a pint of beer, each day. People who were nondrinkers in middle age were 47 percent more likely to eventually be diagnosed with dementia, versus moderate drinkers, the findings showed. Meanwhile, when people drank beyond moderate levels, their risk of dementia rose in tandem with their alcohol intake. Among people who had more than a drink per day, dementia risk rose by 17 percent with every additional 7 units of alcohol they downed per week. That’s equivalent to three to four glasses of wine. None of that, however, proves there is something directly protective about moderate drinking, experts stressed. “No one is saying that if you don’t drink, you should start,” said Dr. Sevil Yasar, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, in Baltimore. She wrote an editorial published with the study Aug. 1… read on >

Hopefully, you enjoy exercising and don’t watch the clock, impatient for it to be over. But it’s important to know how much exercise you’re getting so you can reap all its health rewards. Between the ages of 18 and 64, barring any medical restrictions, the weekly goal is at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio (aerobic) exercise, or 75 minutes if the activity is vigorous, plus two or three strength-training sessions. For older adults, it’s even better to shoot for five hours (300 minutes) each week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity and weight training/muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moderate-intensity cardio raises your heart rate and causes you to break a sweat — you’ll be able to talk, but not sing the words to a song. With vigorous-intensity cardio, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath. Moderate-intensity exercises: Brisk walking Water aerobics Cycling on mostly level ground Doubles tennis Vigorous-intensity exercises: Jogging or running Swimming laps Cycling fast or on hills Singles tennis Basketball While the amount of exercise time will stay consistent until your senior years, your target heart rate goes down slightly as you get older since it’s based in part on your age. There’s no time minimum or maximum for strength… read on >

Did you know that a store can sell food past the expiration date printed on the label? Or that manufacturers only voluntarily stamp dates on foods? While the law states that foods must be wholesome and safe to eat, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can take action to remove a product that poses a danger, the agency doesn’t require dates on foods other than infant formula. And when dates are used, they’re determined by the manufacturer. That means that you need to become an educated consumer about dating guidelines to protect your health. What’s called “open dating” is found mainly on perishable foods such as meat, eggs and dairy. “Closed” or “coded” dating is used on cans and boxes. Dating: An Open & Closed Case: Sell-By: How long the store should display the food. Buy before this date and cook within one to two days for poultry and ground meats, three to five days for red meat. Best If Used By or Before: A recommendation for best flavor or quality. Use-By: Last date for the food’s peak quality, but not a safety date. Closed or coded dates: Packing numbers used by the manufacturer and valuable in case of a recall. Except for “use-by” dates, dates don’t always pertain to home storage and use. Even if the date expires after you buy it, the… read on >

If you want to be happier, try having meaningful conversations. A new study finds that quality conversation is associated with greater happiness, while small talk has no effect on mental state. The results were true for both introverts and extroverts. The findings from the study of 486 people were published recently in the journal Psychological Science. “We define small talk as a conversation where the two conversation partners walk away still knowing equally as much — or little — about each other and nothing else,” said study co-author Matthias Mehl, a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona. “In substantive conversation, there is real, meaningful information exchanged. Importantly, it could be about any topic — politics, relationships, the weather — it just needs to be at a more-than-trivial level of depth,” Mehl said in a university news release. It’s not clear whether quality conversations actually make people happier, or if happier people are more likely to have quality conversations. And the study didn’t prove cause and effect, so that’s a question for future research. Still, “I would like to experimentally ‘prescribe’ people a few more substantive conversations and see whether that does something to their happiness,” Mehl said. More information Mental Health America outlines how to live your life well.

There’s another study suggesting that the vitamin and mineral supplements bought by millions of Americans do nothing to stave off heart disease. This time, the finding stems from an analysis of 18 studies conducted between 1970 and 2016. Each one looked at how vitamins and mineral supplements — which are not reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for either safety or effectiveness — affect heart health. After tracking more than 2 million participants for an average of 12 years, the studies came up with a clear conclusion: they don’t. Still, “people tend to prefer a quick and easy solution, such as taking a pill, rather than the more effortful method to prevent cardiovascular disease,” said study author Dr. Joonseok Kim. “Simply put, multivitamins and mineral supplements do not improve cardiovascular health outcomes, so [they] should not be taken for that purpose,” added Kim. He’s an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s division of cardiovascular disease. The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a trade association representing supplement makers, stressed that the products are meant as nutritional aids only, not as a means of preventing or treating illness. “CRN stresses that multivitamins fill nutrient gaps in our less-than-perfect diets and support a host of other physiological functions,” senior vice president Duffy MacKay said in a statement. “They are not intended to… read on >

It can happen when you’re traveling on business, running late to an appointment, or are simply running out of time to make dinner. You’re facing fast food or no food. Use these tips to make the most of this meal. Start by looking for the lowest calorie selections. Some restaurants list the calories and fat content on their menu board. If not, you can do a quick search of its website on your smartphone. According to U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandates, 2018 is the year that calorie labeling is required for restaurants and similar food establishments that have 20 or more locations. The goal is to make it easy to know what you’re getting in every menu item. Of course, you don’t necessarily want to choose food by calories alone. Go for lean proteins, like grilled chicken or meat that you can see, not hidden under breading or tucked into a sealed wrap. Have it on a salad rather than a bun, and skip fatty and sugary dressings. Instead, drizzle on oil and vinegar, if available, or use mustard. If you’re limited to a sandwich, opt for a whole-wheat wrap, or eat only half the bread. Add lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables, but stay away from toppings like cheese and special sauces. If there’s no fruit available, fat-free yogurt or frozen yogurt is a… read on >

Has that week-old yogurt really gone bad? Did the chicken you bought just three days ago already spoil? Your smartphone might one day be able to tell you, new research suggests. A group of scientists is developing a portable, inexpensive and easy-to-use electronic tag to send wireless alerts to smartphones when a telltale gas is emitted by rotten food. “As we know, spoiled food can be very harmful to our health,” said study author Guihua Yu. “But sometimes we cannot easily notice the slightly degraded food by smell or vision. Therefore, we aim to develop a cost-effective wireless sensor for food spoilage detection with the assistance of mobile phones,” he explained. Yu is a professor of materials science and mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Foodborne illnesses strike 48 million Americans each year, leading to over 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To tackle the problem, Yu and his colleagues first put together a tiny gas sensor with a very high sensitivity to the odor-causing “biogenic amines” that are released when food goes bad. Then, the team embedded the sensors into “near-field communication” (NFC) tags, of the sort already deployed by businesses to track product shipping. The NFC sensor tags were then put through a bad meat test, because slightly spoiled meat is… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

For Pennies a Drink, Higher Taxes Would Help Counter Alcohol’s Toll: Study

Improve Diet Quality to Boost Weight Loss

What Makes a Better Baseball Batter?

‘Moderate’ Drinking May Be a Brain Buffer

How Much Daily Exercise Do You Really Need?

How to Decipher Those Food ‘Sell-By’ Dates

Want a Meaningful Conversation? Cut the Small Talk

More Evidence That Supplements Won’t Help Your Heart

Making the Most of That Fast Food Meal

Is the Milk in Your Fridge ‘Off’? Smartphone Might Someday Tell