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Fizzy, fermented kombucha tea is the hot new health drink. But experts say it’s not clear whether the bacteria-laden beverage lives up to all of its health claims. Proponents say kombucha’s powerful probiotics can help improve digestion, promote your immune response and reduce inflammation in your body by introducing healthy bacteria into your gut. “Kombucha is a living food, and can be highly effective in restoring an individual’s microbiome and an overall feeling of good health,” said Barbara Cole, a nurse practitioner with Penn State Health Medical Group. The drink is a source of live beneficial bacteria and yeasts, organic acids, B vitamins, antioxidants and trace minerals, Cole said. But while kombucha is undeniably a good source of probiotics, it’s yet to be seen whether the drink lives up to all of the hype, said Torey Armul, a registered dietitian nutritionist and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “There’s a lot of health claims behind it, most of which I would say are unfounded, not backed by research,” Armul said. “It can do A to Z if you listen to the right people: ‘It can cure every health malady and help with all sorts of things.’ There’s really not enough research to support the vast majority of those claims,” she said. Kombucha is made by adding bacteria, yeast and sugar to brewed tea.… read on >

A migraine diary may help you pinpoint — and avoid — headache triggers, a neurologist says. About 12 percent of people in the United States suffer from migraines, according to the Migraine Research Foundation. “A migraine can be debilitating and can impact daily activities, your family and social life. Unfortunately, migraine often goes undiagnosed and undertreated,” said Dr. Sait Ashina. He’s a neurologist and headache specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. While the exact causes of migraines remain unknown, doctors can help patients identify their triggers. “Triggers are what can set off the symptoms of a migraine headache, which is different than the mechanisms of the head pain,” Ashina explained in a hospital news release. “Triggers are usually individualized — what could bring on a migraine in one person could not be the case in another person.” Keeping a migraine diary can help uncover headache triggers, Ashina said. Common ones include caffeine; fasting, dieting and dehydration; weather changes; lack of sleep; odors; bright or fluorescent light; and hormonal changes, especially for women. “Your doctor is going to want to know what you did or ate or how you felt right before a migraine attack,” Ashina said. “By tracking these occurrences and any details you remember ahead of time, your doctor will be able to find patterns that will guide an individualized treatment… read on >

While some politicians are snubbing science, the American public is choosing to do the opposite, a new study suggests. “In the context of debates regarding the loss of trust in experts, what we show is that in actual fact, when compared to a government working group, the public in the U.S. and U.K. judge scientists very favorably,” said study author Magda Osman. “This means that the public still [has] a high degree of trust in experts, in particular, in this case, social scientists,” she added. Osman is with Queen Mary University of London’s School of Biological and Chemical Sciences. The findings, which stem from three large experiments, were published July 11 in the journal Basic and Applied Social Psychology. For the study, the scientists presented volunteers with public health guidance presented either by experts or by government officials. Some of the ideas were real and had been implemented, such as using catchy pictures in stairwells to encourage people to take the stairs. But others were outlandish, such as suggesting that stirring coffee counter-clockwise for 2 minutes would ward off cancer. What did the research team find? Trust was higher for scientists than for government officials, even when the ideas being proposed were fictitious. “While people judged genuine [ideas] as more plausible than fictitious [ideas], people trusted some fictitious [ideas] proposed by scientists as more plausible… read on >

Eating a healthful diet is easier when nutritious foods are more accessible. But it’s not enough to simply buy better choices. To make a habit of choosing healthy over less-healthy options, you want to make them as easy to eat, as visually appealing, and as everyday as the packaged treats that tempt you. That’s as important for kids as it is for adults. Convenience foods got their name because they’re ready to grab and go. To make healthy diet foods more convenient, put them front and center on your counter and at eye level in the fridge, not hidden on a shelf or buried in a dark corner of a cabinet. Make healthy foods more attractive — the same way that your grocer makes beautiful displays to entice you to buy. Create a visually appealing fruit bowl or raw veggie platter for easy munching. Making healthy food the norm at your house also can involve steps like getting in the habit of serving a vegetable at every meal, and cutting up fruit chunks for breakfast the night before. This will help make grabbing a handful of cherries, rather than a handful of chips, second nature to you and everyone in your family. Additional small yet important changes all around the kitchen will support this new approach. Arrange the freezer so you see frozen peas and… read on >

Before you head out for a sunny summer getaway, get familiar with the signs of heat-related illnesses. Once at your destination, build in time for your body to adjust to the climate. If you’re lounging by the water and taking only short walks, your risk of a heat illness is low. But if you’re not in great shape and aren’t used to the heat, beware of strenuous activities like hiking and biking. Your body’s cooling system could fail if you’re in high temperatures and humidity for too long, sweating heavily, and not drinking the right fluids. Toss in a few fruity alcoholic beverages and you could be thrown for a loop. Respect your fitness level. If you’re out of shape, go slow, even for fun activities like kayaking. Take frequent breaks. Don’t wait until you feel thirsty to drink bottled water. And don’t forget the sunscreen. Heat-related illnesses include: Heat cramps: painful muscle contractions, usually after exercising in the heat. Heat syncope: lightheadedness or fainting caused by high temperatures. Exercise-associated collapse: lightheadedness or fainting right after exercising. Heat exhaustion: body temperature as high as 104 Fahrenheit with cold, clammy skin, headache, weakness, nausea and vomiting. Heat stroke: the above symptoms plus a body temperature over 104 F; you may no longer be able to sweat to cool yourself. Preventing heat-related illnesses: Give yourself time to… read on >

Fewer than 14 percent of American adults smoked cigarettes in 2017, the lowest level seen since data collection started in 1965, government health officials reported Tuesday. “Certainly, it is fantastic that the U.S. smoking rates continue to drop,” said Dr. Adam Lackey, chief of thoracic surgery at Staten Island University Hospital. “I suspect education is a large part of why the rates are dropping.” “Unfortunately, I suspect part of the drop is also related to more and more people switching to the various other methods of consuming nicotine,” he noted. “Vaping seems to be taking off, and I am always dismayed to have patients proudly tell me that they don’t smoke, and thank goodness for all those vaping products that they use now.” “Yes, vaping doesn’t have the high levels of tar and soot that are the major contributors to the cigarette lung cancer risk,” Lackey said. “But you are still inhaling heated chemicals into your body. And you are still getting nicotine, which in and of itself is not particularly healthy, aside from the addiction standpoint.” Meanwhile, the report unearthed some bad news along with the good. Twice as many of those who smoked lived in rural areas and smaller cities than in cities of 1 million or more — about 22 percent versus 11 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control… read on >

(HealthDay News) — It is important to protect your eyes from sun-related ultraviolet damage. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests how: Choose sunglasses that block at least 99 percent of both UV-A and UV-B rays. Wear sunglasses every day, even when it’s cloudy. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to block UV rays from affecting your eyes from the sides and above the glasses. Some contact lenses also have UV blocking. Ask your eye doctor about how much protection your contact lenses provide.

While some might be wary about the cancer risks of searing a steak on a flaming grill, a few simple changes can lower that risk, a nutritionist advises. Cooking beef, pork, fish or poultry over high temperatures can lead to the formation of chemicals that can trigger changes in your DNA that increase the risk of cancer. “It might seem like everything fun causes cancer,” said Catherine Carpenter, a professor of clinical nutrition and a member of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But it’s fine to grill meat, you just need to be aware of what parts of it increase cancer risk, and then make lifestyle changes not only that you can live with, but that you can live with for a long time,” she said. Carpenter recommends four tips to reduce your cancer risk from grilled meats. Don’t grill meat on direct heat. Turn on the flame on part of the grill, and put the meat on the other part that doesn’t have any flame. Flip it. If the meat is exposed to direct flame, be sure to turn it over frequently to reduce your exposure to the harmful chemicals. Trim it. If portions of the meat become charred during grilling, cut them off before serving. That will also help reduce your exposure to these damaging chemicals.… read on >

You’d better think twice before taking booze to the beach or out on a boat. Alcohol increases the risk of injury and death in and on the water, safety experts warn. For example, alcohol is a factor in up to 70 percent of all water recreation deaths of teens and adults, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA). Drinking impairs judgment and makes people more likely to take risks, a dangerous combination for swimmers, the institute noted. Even experienced swimmers may go farther out than they should and not be able to make it back to shore, or they may not notice how cold they’re getting and develop hypothermia. Diving after drinking is especially dangerous, according to the NIAAA. Being drunk may cause divers to collide with a diving board or to dive where the water is too shallow, the institute noted in a news release. In addition, alcohol can lead surfers to become overconfident and try to ride a wave beyond their abilities. And drinking while boating presents another set of challenges. NIAAA-funded research shows that alcohol may play a role in 60 percent of boating deaths, including falling overboard. Also, a boat operator who’s had four to five drinks is 16 times more likely to be killed in a boating accident than one who hasn’t had any alcohol.… read on >

Liver cancer cases in several developed countries have doubled in the past 25 years, due to the continuing obesity epidemic and a spike in hepatitis infections, new research suggests. Even worse, the sharp rise in liver cancer cases is starting to swamp the limited number of liver specialists in those nations, the researchers added. In the four countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada — liver cancer is the only major cancer for which death rates are rising. “While the individual rates in these countries differ, the trends are the same,” said lead researcher Dr. Morris Sherman, from the University Health Network and the University of Toronto. “The prospects for surviving liver cancer are bleak, so our only hope is to intervene early and prevent the cancer happening in the first place or to find early curable cancers,” he added in a health network news release. Liver cancer incidence is highest in the United Kingdom (9.6 per 100,000 people), followed by 9.2 in the United States, 7.4 in Australia and 6.0 in Canada. The rankings are the same for liver cancer deaths. Cancer Research UK predicts a further 40 percent increase in liver cancer cases by 2035. “While the obesity epidemic is showing no signs of abating, we could make a huge impact on future liver cancer rates by investing more… read on >

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All Sauce from Weekly Gravy:

It’s Called Kombucha. But Is It Good for You?

To Fend Off Migraines, Try Keeping a Headache Diary

For Americans, in Science They Trust

3 Ways to Promote Healthier Eating

Beat the Heat on Your Summer Vacation

U.S. Smoking Rate Hits All-Time Low

Health Tip: Choose Protective Sunglasses

Healthful Grilling Is as Simple as 1, 2, 3, 4

Beach, Boating and Booze Add Up to Summer Injuries

Liver Cancer a Big Threat to U.S., Other Developed Nations