Eats « Weekly Gravy

Got milk? It turns out, plain cow’s milk, water and a bit of veggie juice are still the best drink choices for kids and teens. That’s the consensus of experts who recently issued healthy beverage recommendations for kids and teens aged 5 to 18. The expert panel — convened by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation — included members from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Heart Association. Its recommendations follow a five-month review of scientific literature, according to The Washington Post. Unsurprisingly, the panel said water should be “primary beverage for meeting hydration needs,” with the recommended daily intake ranging from 16 to 88 ounces, depending on a child’s age and sex. Tap water, the panel wrote, is preferred because it’s affordable, eco-friendly and often has fluoride added to prevent tooth decay. Plain pasteurized milk — preferably low-fat or fat-free — was also recommended for its essential nutrients. The panel said 100% fruit or vegetable juice is acceptable but should be limited due to its high calorie content. The panel also said plant-based milks, like almond or oat, lack key nutrients and should only replace dairy if medically necessary. It said flavored and sweetened milk should be avoided or limited. Sugar-sweetened beverages, like sodas… read on > read on >

The health benefits of aggressive blood pressure control outweigh the potential risks for seniors, according to the latest results from a major clinical trial. About 85% of seniors treated to a target blood pressure of 120 systolic (the top number in a blood pressure reading) had a positive net benefit from such tight control, researchers reported. The reduced risk of heart disease and early death outweighed the negatives that can accompany such aggressive treatment, which include potential kidney damage or dangerously low blood pressure, results show. “Almost all … participants aged 65 years or greater had a predicted net benefit that favored an systolic blood pressure target of less than 120 mm Hg over a systolic blood pressure target of less than 140 mm Hg,” concluded the research team led by senior investigator Dr. Simon Ascher, an assistant clinical professor with the University of California-Davis. Systolic blood pressure refers to pressure within blood vessels during a heartbeat. Elderly patients, frail seniors and those taking many different medications derived “greater absolute harms from intensive blood pressure lowering,” along with greater heart disease, cognitive and death rate benefits, the study found. These results come from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT), which in 2017 led major U.S. cardiology groups to revise their definition of high blood pressure. As a result, blood pressure of 130 systolic has… read on > read on >

Women who develop a complication like diabetes or high blood pressure during pregnancy are at higher risk of stroke or heart disease in the years after delivery. Unfortunately, their doctors aren’t taking this health risk seriously enough, a new study suggests. Fewer than 1 in 5 women (17%) diagnosed with gestational diabetes or high blood pressure received an adequate health screening in the year after pregnancy, researchers reported Feb. 17 in the journal Circulation. Further, fewer than half (44%) of these at-risk women got such a screening within three years of their pregnancy. “Women should be aware of their risk for cardiovascular disease, so that they can ask their doctors about risk factor screening,” lead researcher Dr. Amy Yu, a neurologist and senior scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Ontario, Canada, said in a news release. “Having this knowledge can also support patients’ decision-making about lifestyle changes, which could improve their vascular health,” she added. Guidelines recommend that women who develop high blood pressure or diabetes during pregnancy have their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels checked out after delivery, to assess their long-term risk of heart disease. “There’s increasing evidence that maternal health during pregnancy is associated with long-term vascular health,” Yu said. To see whether the recommended testing was being done, researchers analyzed the health records of more than a million… read on > read on >

A blood test can help people with irritable bowel syndrome cut out specific trigger foods most likely to worsen their condition, a new study suggests. About 60% of IBS patients who followed a diet guided by the results of the blood test wound up suffering less stomach pain, researchers reported recently in the journal Gastroenterology. By comparison, 42% of IBS patients who didn’t get the blood test experienced a reduction in stomach pain, results show. The test “requires additional validation but could move us one step closer to a ‘precision nutrition’ approach, in which providers can offer personalized dietary recommendations to each patient with IBS,” researcher Dr. William Chey, chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Michigan, said in a news release. The blood test, called inFoods IBS, tests for the potential of 18 foods to worsen IBS symptoms in specific patients. These include wheat, oat, rye, whole egg, yeast, cow’s milk, black tea, cabbage, corn, grapefruit, honey, lemon and pineapple. The test looks for blood levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin G (IgG) that’s produced when the gut has an allergic reaction to a type of food. Higher levels of this antibody mean a person likely would benefit from cutting this food from their diet. About 10% to 15% of Americans have IBS, and it’s well-known that certain foods can worsen symptoms… read on > read on >

A junk-food lifestyle might contribute to embarrassing little leaks in middle-aged women, a new study suggests. Women who often munch fast food or packaged eats appear more likely to develop urinary incontinence, researchers recently reported in the journal Women’s Health. Frequently eating either processed or fast food is associated with a 50% increased risk of a leaky bladder, results show. “Higher consumption of highly processed ready-made foods and fast food increased the risk for experiencing the symptoms of stress and urgency urinary incontinence,” lead investigator Mari Kuutti, a doctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, said in a news release. On the other hand, “higher consumption of fruits and overall higher quality diet decreased the risk for stress urinary incontinence,” Kuutti added. As many as 45% of women worldwide are affected by urinary incontinence, researchers said in background notes. Women become more likely to develop incontinence as aging affects the ability of the pelvic floor muscles to control urination, researchers said. But they suspected that a poor diet might also influence the pelvic floor, as key nutrients like protein, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids are important for proper muscle function. For their study, researchers tracked the health of nearly 1,100 Finnish women 47 to 55 years old. More than half already had symptoms of pelvic floor problems like urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence… read on > read on >

High school athletes often hit the field improperly fueled for the competition ahead, because they haven’t been taught important basics of nutrition, a new study says. In surveys, teen athletes revealed a dramatic lack of knowledge about nutrition facts that could help them compete harder and recover better, researchers reported recently in the journal Nutrition. “Their level of general nutrition knowledge and sport nutrition knowledge was very, very low,” researcher Jennifer Fields, an assistant professor of nutritional science with the University of Connecticut, said in a news release. “They didn’t know how to eat a balanced diet for their overall health,” she continued. “Moreso, they didn’t know how to make proper fueling decisions for their sport.” For the study, 44 teenage student athletes filled out the Abridged Sports Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire, a survey designed to suss out how much a person knows about nutrition in general and eating for athletic competition in particular. Overall, the students got only about 45% of the questions right, results show. They scored 58% on general nutrition knowledge and 35% on sports nutrition. In particular, students were way off base when it came to the key nutrients they need to compete effectively, researchers said. The teens thought they needed fewer carbohydrates and calories than is recommended, as well as far more protein and fat than necessary, the study found. In… read on > read on >

TUESDAY, Feb. 18, 2025 (HealthDay News) – Juice cleanses are a popular way to kickstart a health journey, but these diets may do more harm than good in as little as three days. A study published recently in the journal Nutrients found that consuming vegetable and fruit juice-only diets for three days triggered detrimental gut and oral bacteria changes linked to inflammation, memory and thinking problems. Exactly how juice-only cleanses trigger such changes is not fully understood, but researchers suggest it may owe to the lack of fiber in juice. “Most people think of juicing as a healthy cleanse, but this study offers a reality check,” said study author Dr. Melinda Ring, director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Consuming large amounts of juice with little fiber may lead to microbiome imbalances that could have negative consequences, such as inflammation and reduced gut health,” she said in a news release. When fruits or veggies are juiced, much of the fiber is stripped away. Fiber feeds good bacteria that produce anti-inflammatory compounds. Without fiber, sugar-loving or bad bacteria can multiply, disrupting the balance of good and bad bacteria — known as the microbiome — in the gut and mouth. To see how juicing affects the gut and oral microbiomes, researchers studied three groups of healthy adults. One group… read on > read on >

Society says that without access to shared federal data, cancer research is compromised read on >

Direct-to-consumer telehealth company advertisement that aired during the Super Bowl failed to mention side effects of the drugs read on >

A major recall of canned tuna sold in dozens of states has been issued amid concerns that a packaging defect could cause “a potentially fatal form of food poisoning,” the manufacturer said in a statement. California-based Tri-Union Seafoods announced a voluntary recall for certain tuna products sold under the Genova®, Van Camp’s®, H-E-B and Trader Joe’s brand names, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The affected cans may have a faulty pull-tab lid, which could allow them to become contaminated with the Clostridium botulinum bacterium, which causes botulism. While Tri-Union Seafoods has said no illnesses linked to the recalled products had been reported, the company warned consumers not to use the product, “even if it does not look or smell spoiled.” The recalled tuna was distributed to stores in dozens of states across the U.S., including: H-E-B label: Stores in Texas. Trader Joe’s label: Stores in Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin. Genova 7-ounce cans: Costco stores in Florida and Georgia. Genova 5-ounce cans: Harris Teeter, Publix, H-E-B, Kroger, Safeway, Walmart and independent retailers in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas. Van Camp’s label: Walmart and independent retailers in Pennsylvania, Florida and New Jersey. Botulism poisoning is… read on > read on >