Who doesn’t crave a big bowl of spaghetti every now and then? But then comes the question of how to fit it into a smart diet plan. The answer is portion control. On average, one cup of cooked pasta has between 180 and 220 calories. But that number can change depending on how long you cook it: The more water it absorbs, the fewer calories it has by measure. Also, it’s very likely that you’re putting far more than one cup of pasta in your dinner bowl, and a near certainty that restaurant portions are up to three times the size of that suggested serving. For the most accurate count when you’re cooking at home, weigh the pasta dry and count 100 calories for each ounce you’re having. (Do choose whole grain pasta for its nutrients.) Depending on what you’ll add to it, you can generally have 2 to 3 ounces, which will cook up to a filling meal. (Be sure to make note of what that amount of pasta looks like when cooked so that you know how much to eat when facing a supersized plate at a restaurant.) The key rule, home and away, is to keep pasta dishes light. Skip sauces made with butter, cream and heavy amounts of cheese in favor of tomato sauces. Cherry tomato halves, chopped herbs and a…  read on >

Here’s some straight talk about the value of “the talk.” Fathers who talk with their teenage sons about condom use can help prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies, researchers say. Condoms are the only contraceptive method that can prevent pregnancy and the spread of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Yet, recent U.S. government data showed that condom use among teens steadily declined over the last decade. And as condom use dropped, the number of sexually transmitted infections increased, researchers found. In 2017, the number of STIs reached an all-time high for the fourth year in a row, with teens and young adults accounting for about half of the cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two out of three new HIV infections in young people are among black and Hispanic males, and more than 200,000 births a year are to teens and young adults, the study authors noted. For the new study, researchers interviewed 25 black and Hispanic fathers and sons (aged 15 to 19) from New York City. The research was led by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, a professor at New York University and a nurse practitioner specializing in adolescent sexual and reproductive health at the Adolescent AIDS Program of Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City. The interviews made it clear that fathers talking to their sons about using…  read on >

Major heart surgery does not cause significant memory decline in older patients, a new study finds. Researchers found no greater risk for loss of brain function among patients who had heart surgery compared to those who had a much less invasive procedure called cardiac catheterization. “We expected to find a bigger difference in the surgery group, since there are many anecdotes about serious cognitive [mental] decline after heart surgery,” said Dr. Elizabeth Whitlock, of the University of California, San Francisco. “Our results are different for several reasons, one being that our follow-up is up to two years after surgery, to account for the fact that people may improve over time,” she said. The study included nearly 1,200 heart surgery patients. Another 1,900 had cardiac catheterization, which is used to diagnose and treat certain heart conditions, including blocked arteries. All were aged 65 or older. The results were published online Dec. 18 in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Whitlock described the study results as “comforting.” The findings “suggest that there isn’t a major long-term impact when these two methods of correcting serious heart problems are compared. We think this is because severe heart disease itself probably has a cognitive impact,” she said in a journal news release. About 92 million people in the United States have some form of heart disease. Nearly 8 million undergo heart…  read on >

You’d think vitamin deficiencies would be rare in the United States, but many people are running low on vitamin D, and it’s a serious health threat. Being short on vitamin D not only affects bone density, it’s also been linked to conditions such as heart disease, mental decline, some types of cancer, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and type 2 diabetes. The problem is twofold: Not knowing how much vitamin D you really need, and how to get it. While 600 to 800 International Units (IUs) is the recommended daily amount, it can take more than that to bring you up to a healthy level and maintain it once you have a deficit. The body can make vitamin D through sun exposure, but there are many variables, from time of day and the season to your location and your skin color. People with pale skin make vitamin D more quickly than those with darker skin. While there is concern about skin cancer risk, under the right conditions, exposing arms and legs (and your torso when possible) for only a few minutes two to three times a week allows the skin to produce enough vitamin D. Very few foods naturally contain D. Many others are fortified with it, but it’s usually only 100 IUs per serving, making it unlikely that you’ll get even the daily minimum just…  read on >

Walking is not only a great first exercise, it can also be a forever exercise. Here are some ideas to show you how to take it to the next level. Making walking more of a challenge enables you to burn more calories and raise your working heart rate. You can do this by working out on a treadmill with an incline setting and wearing a weighted vest. You can start with either one to scale up or combine both ideas for a greater challenge. According to the American Council on Exercise, wearing a weighted vest is a great option if you’re relatively new to exercise because it won’t feel as difficult as ramping up your speed, for instance. If you choose a vest that weighs about 15 percent of your bodyweight, you can burn 12 percent more calories when walking at 2.5 miles per hour — an easy pace. You can achieve a slightly higher calorie burn by wearing a vest that’s just 10 percent of your bodyweight if you walk on a treadmill at that speed and at an incline with a 5 or 10 percent grade. To ease into the combined approach, walk for 5 minutes at a flat or 0 grade, then 5 minutes at 5 percent grade, followed by 5 minutes at 10 percent grade. Finish up by going back to…  read on >

People seeking more satisfaction in their later years might find sex is the spice of life, new research suggests. For the study, researchers analyzed survey data from nearly 6,900 older adults, average age 65, in England. The investigators found that those who said they’d had any type of sexual activity in the previous 12 months had higher life enjoyment scores than those who weren’t sexually active. Among women, kissing, petting and fondling more often, as well as feeling emotionally close to their partner during sex, was associated with a higher enjoyment of life. But there was not a significant association between sexual intercourse and enjoyment of life. Among men, satisfaction with their sex life and how often they had sexual intercourse was associated with greater enjoyment of life. “The findings of our study suggest that it may be beneficial for physicians to query geriatric patients about their sexual activity and offer help for sexual difficulties, such as problems with erections, as sexual activity helps older people live more fulfilling lives,” said study co-leader Lee Smith. He is a reader in exercise medicine at Anglia Ruskin University in England. “Previous research has suggested that frequent sexual intercourse is associated with a range of benefits for psychological and physiological well-being, such as improved quality of life and mental health, and lower risk of certain cancers and fatal…  read on >

Diabetes has been tied to a number of complications such as kidney disease, but new research has found that older people with type 2 diabetes can also have more difficulties with thinking and memory. During a five-year study, participants with diabetes showed a decline in verbal memory and fluency. Using MRI scans, researchers saw that the participants’ brains were smaller at the start of the study — but the rates of decline in brain size did not differ over the years the patients were followed. The investigators didn’t find a connection between brain size and the thinking and memory troubles. “Although memory and executive function [thinking and planning skills] declined at a greater rate in people with type 2 diabetes, this was not explained by a decline in brain volume,” said study author Michele Callisaya, a research fellow at the University of Tasmania. Callisaya said the researchers were surprised by this finding. They expected that decreased brain volume would have been more common in people who were having memory and thinking issues. But she added that it’s possible over a longer time, a relationship between these factors might become evident. And, she added, “The overall message is that type 2 diabetes affects brain function.” Past research has found that having diabetes might double a person’s risk of dementia, the researchers said. Although previous studies have…  read on >

Winter can be hard on your skin, but you can take steps to keep it soft and supple, dermatologists say. “When the weather changes, your skin care products should, too. For most of us, dry skin makes an appearance in the winter due to changes in temperature and humidity, so you need to think about appropriate skin care formulations,” said Dr. Rajani Katta. She’s a clinical professor of dermatology with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Katta and her colleague, Dr. Megan Rogge, an assistant professor of dermatology at the university, offered these tips to protect your skin: Choose thick skin creams over watery lotions. “Lotions are the least moisturizing, because they have such a high quantity of water. Creams are a better choice for those with dry skin,” Katta said in a university news release. Use sunblock. Rogge explained that “even when the temperature drops, the sun’s rays can still emit powerful ultraviolet radiation. If you’re close to snow or water, those UV rays can be even more potent due to the reflective surfaces, which makes wearing protection paramount.” Don’t take long, hot showers. “Many of us love to linger longer in steaming hot showers, particularly when it’s cold outside. These feel great, especially when your skin is itchy,” Rogge added. “But this can actually damage your skin barrier, and also…  read on >

Those Sunday crossword puzzles may not prevent the aging brain from slowing down — but they might protect it in a different way, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at the “use it or lose it” theory on brain health. The concept holds that mentally engaging activities — from reading to crosswords to board games — may help the brain resist dementia later in life. In this study, older adults who said they enjoyed those pastimes were no less likely to show signs of mental decline over time, versus other older folks. But they did, on average, score higher on standard tests of mental sharpness. That means that while they did decline over time, they did so from a higher “starting point,” the researchers explained. “The results indicate that a lifetime of engagement lifts you to a high point from which you decline, and that can be considered as passive cognitive reserve,” said lead researcher Roger Staff, of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. “Starting from a high point,” he said, “will mean that the threshold at which you are considered impaired will be farther into the future.” “Cognitive reserve” can be seen as the brain’s ability to find alternative ways to get things done. In theory, a person with greater cognitive reserve may be able to withstand pathological changes in the brain for a…  read on >

Intimacy plays a larger role in casual sex among college students than previously thought, a new U.S. study reports. Researchers analyzed the results of an online survey that asked several hundred students at a university in the Northeast about their romantic relationships and casual sex. As expected, affectionate and intimate activities — such as cuddling, spending the night, eye gazing and foreplay — were more common in relationship sex than in casual sex, but the rate of these acts in casual sex was much higher than anticipated. While women were more likely to engage in intimate acts, there were no gender differences in terms of eye gazing and foreplay. “We have a stereotype that casual sex [hookups] are just about meaningless sex, but this research shows this is not necessarily true,” said study author Ann Merriwether, a developmental psychologist and lecturer at Binghamton University in New York. The study “shows intimacy is important and desired by many people, especially those who prefer hookups to more traditional relationships,” she added in a university news release. A survey question that asked students if they prefer casual sex or sex in a long-term relationship led to a surprising finding. “Young adults who indicated they prefer casual sexual encounters over relationship sex were more likely to want affection and intimacy from them. This suggests they seek to meet their…  read on >