Lifestyle « Weekly Gravy

The Fourth of July holiday is one of the most deadly times on America’s roads, so Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is urging everyone to avoid drinking and driving. “Celebrating our nation’s independence with backyard barbecues, fireworks displays and other festivities should be fun, not dangerous,” said Bob Garguilo, executive director of MADD Connecticut. “Celebrate safely by designating a non-drinking driver every time plans include alcohol,” Garguilo said in a MADD news release. Police will be setting up sobriety checkpoints during the holiday. These checkpoints allow officers to stop vehicles to check to see if drivers have been drinking. July has more drunk driving deaths than any other month, according to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the toll over the July 4 weekend is particularly high. Drunk driving accounts for about 40% of all traffic deaths during July 4 and the weekends before and after. From 6 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2017, to 5:59 a.m. Wednesday, July 5, 2017, 39% of all traffic deaths were alcohol-related, and drunk driving killed 237 people during that time period, according to the NHTSA. Drunk driving is the leading cause of death on U.S. roads, yet is completely preventable, MADD notes. The group urges Americans to take personal responsibility year-round, not just on holidays. If you drink, use taxis, public transportation, rideshare services, or get… read on >

Heartfelt talks between parent and child are essential to help kids overcome tough times and do their best at school, a new study says. Traumatic events in a kid’s life can cause the child to neglect school work and increase the odds that they’ll wind up repeating a grade, researchers found. But having even one parent lend a kind and caring ear appears to help kids work past the toxic stress caused by those events, resulting in better performance at school, according to the study. A sympathetic parent has a stronger impact on a troubled child’s educational performance than whether they eat regular family meals or live in a safe and well-kept neighborhood, said lead researcher Dr. Angelica Robles. She’s a pediatrician with Novant Health Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics in Charlotte, N.C. “The parent really had the biggest influence,” Robles said. “Kids were six times more likely to complete homework and six times more likely to care about school” if they had a parent who could share ideas or talk about things that matter. For their study, Robles and her colleagues analyzed data drawn from a 2011-2012 federal survey of more than 65,000 children ages 6 to 17. They found that adverse childhood events could seriously affect a child’s interest in school — among them domestic or neighborhood violence, economic hardship, substance abuse or mental illness in… read on >

Remember the “mood ring” craze of the 1970s? A high-tech wristband is being developed along the same lines, potentially helping patients who struggle with mood disorders. The smart wristband would use a person’s skin to track their emotional intensity. During a mood swing, either high or low, the wristband would change color, heat up, squeeze or vibrate to inform the wearer he might be in the throes of depression or anxiety, the researchers said. “As the feedback is provided in real time, our devices encourage people to become more aware of their emotions, name them, potentially reflect on what causes them, and even learn how to control their emotional responses in order to change the visual or tactile feedback provided by the device,” said researcher Corina Sas. She is a professor of human-computer interaction and digital health at Lancaster University in the United Kingdom. About 10% of U.S. adults struggle with a mood disorder, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder or seasonal affective disorder, according to the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. Part of the treatment for a mood disorder involves becoming more aware of emotions, and then learning to regulate emotional response, the study authors said in background notes in their report. Co-author Muhammad Umair, a Lancaster research associate, explained, “We wanted to create low-cost, simple prototypes to support understanding and engagement with… read on >

No matter how committed you are to eating healthier and/or losing weight, making drastic changes can be hard. A better approach is to make small shifts in the foods you eat every day, according to the U.S. 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines. Here are 10 to aim for. To boost your diet efforts over time, try one a week. Shift from white bread to whole-wheat bread or a wrap. Shift from meat to seafood, or replace meat in recipes with beans and vegetables twice a week. Join the Meatless Monday bandwagon to gradually reduce the red meat — beef, lamb and pork as well as processed meats — in your diet. Shift from salted to unsalted nuts, and from regular canned soups and vegetables to low-sodium varieties. These are painless ways to reduce unnecessary salt. Shift from butter to olive oil, and from creamy dressings to vinaigrettes. This increases unsaturated fats in your diet while reducing saturated ones. Shift from whole milk to 2%, and then to 1% milk. Even though some studies have reported that full-fat dairy is not the health threat it was once thought to be, this shift will cut calories if you need help losing weight or maintaining a loss. Shift from cream-based pasta dishes to ones with red sauce. This also cuts saturated fat. Shift to roasted squash chunks from French fries.… read on >

Somewhere between the Mom who obsessively wipes down every knob and toy her child might touch, and the Dad who thinks rolling in the dirt is “good” for kids, there’s a healthy medium, British experts say. “We have to find a way to protect against infectious diseases and harmful microbes, whilst at the same time sustaining exposure to the essential beneficial microbes in our world,” explained Sally Bloomfield. Bloomfield is a member of the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, and also the co-author of a new report that surveyed British adults on their attitude towards dirt and germs in the home. The 2018 survey, from the Royal Society for Public Health, suggests people are confused about how much dirt is OK. A lot of that confusion is probably coming from the rise of the “hygiene hypothesis” — the notion that today’s homes are overly sanitized, and kids need contact with germs to build up healthy immune systems. But this notion can be taken too far, as Bloomfield’s group found. In fact, nearly one in four people polled agreed with the statement that “hygiene in the home is not important because children need to be exposed to harmful germs to build their immune system.” Men were twice as likely as women to express that opinion. On the other hand, misconceptions around the level of “danger”… read on >

Social media is helping spur the e-cigarette epidemic among America’s teens, a new study suggests. Nearly 15,000 Instagram posts related to Juul, the most popular e-cigarette brand, were released between March and May 2018, researchers found. More than half the posts focused on youth culture or lifestyle-related content that would appeal to teens, according to results published July 2 in the journal Tobacco Control. One-third of the posts contained overt promotional content that highlighted ways to obtain Juul-related products at a reduced cost, including discounts and giveaways, the researchers added. These promotional posts “had links to commercial websites,” said senior researcher Elizabeth Hair, senior vice president of the Schroeder Institute, Truth Initiative, in Washington, D.C. “Not all of them were from Juul corporate; some of them were from companies selling the Juul product.” This sort of social media promotion is fueling the use of e-cigarettes among teens, Hair said. “Over 20% of our youth are using e-cigarettes,” Hair said. “We’ve been doing such a great job of changing the nation’s direction on cigarette usage, and now we have a new epidemic we’re facing.” But Juul Labs spokesperson Lindsay Andrews noted that during those three months, the company itself issued only eight Instagram posts. Most posts from third-party users, Juul says “Six of these were testimonials from former adult smokers, one was a letter from our… read on >

Although many restaurants, offices and even apartment buildings are smoke-free, American universities appear to be an exception. By 2017, only 1 in 6 had gone completely smoke-free or tobacco-free, a new study reveals. “Continued success in increasing the adoption of comprehensive smoke-free and tobacco-free protections at institutions of higher learning will strengthen smoking prevention among nonsmokers, increase quitting among current smokers, and protect youth and young adults from the negative health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke,” said researchers led by Dr. Kelly Blake of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. The research team discovered smoking was still allowed in colleges and universities in the District of Columbia, New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Only Iowa at 87%, Arkansas at 62%, North Dakota at 55%, Guam at 67% and the Northern Mariana Islands at 100% had smoke-free policies in more than half of their higher-learning institutions. The researchers estimated that only 27% of students and 25% of faculty members were covered by strict school or state smoke-free laws. For the study, investigators used data from these two sources: the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation and the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. The report was published July 2 in the journal Tobacco Control. More information The American Lung Association offers more state-by-state information on smoke-free laws.

It’s well known that omega-3 fatty acids, or omega-3s for short, are important anti-inflammatory nutrients that, along with many other functions, reduce heart disease risk. What’s unclear is whether you can get these benefits from a capsule. Studies involving supplements have recently been called into question. That’s why it makes sense to focus on foods rich in these fatty acids. Note: A prescription formula has been found effective to reduce triglycerides (a type of blood fat), with an omega-3 concentration much higher than suggested for the general population, but it must only be taken under a doctor’s direction. The easiest forms of omega-3s to absorb are DHA and EPA, and fatty fish (like salmon and tuna) and grass-fed beef are among the best sources. Walnuts, ground flax and chia are good sources of plant-based omega-3s, called ALAs, and are versatile cooking ingredients. Their absorption rate is lower than those of DHA and EPA, however. Here’s a tasty way to get your omega-3s. Walnut-Crusted Tuna 2 tablespoons ground walnuts 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed 2 tablespoons chia seeds 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper 1 egg, preferably omega-3 fortified 2 6-ounce tuna filets Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix walnuts, flax, chia seeds and black pepper in a pie plate. Whisk the egg in a separate dish. Dip tuna filets into the egg and then press into… read on >

Stop agonizing over the decades you spent glued to the couch. New research shows that physically active middle-aged and older adults live longer — even if they were inactive when they were younger. And that’s even if they had previous serious health problems, according to the British study. “These results are encouraging, not least for middle-aged and older adults with existing cardiovascular disease and cancer, who can still gain substantial longevity benefits by becoming more active,” said Soren Brage, of the epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge, and his colleagues. The study included nearly 14,600 men and women, ages 40-79, who were recruited between 1993 and 1997. They underwent four assessments up to 2004. Deaths were recorded up to 2016. During follow-up, there were more than 3,100 deaths among the participants, including about 1,000 each from heart disease and from cancer. The researchers controlled for risk factors such as diet, weight, medical history, blood pressure and cholesterol levels. They concluded that higher physical activity levels and increases in physical activity over time were associated with a lower risk of death. What counted as physical activity? The research noted activity at work, sports and recreational exercise. Among those who were inactive at the start of the study and gradually met minimum physical activity guidelines over five years, there was a 24% lower risk of death… read on >

Setbacks are a part of life for everyone, but these stumbling blocks can be extremely difficult, even debilitating, to navigate. Taking certain steps can make it easier for you to rebound, according to experts at the University of California, Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. It’s easy to get caught up going over what happened again and again in your mind. But instead of simply reliving the event, spend the time exploring your feelings surrounding it. Putting them down on paper can give you insights into the situation, help you learn from the experience and finally move forward. Rather than berate yourself for whatever role you played in what happened, show yourself the same compassion you show friends and loved ones when you see them struggling with a serious issue. Be kind to yourself — this can change your mindset from blame to being open to finding better solutions in the future. If the situation was brought on by the actions of another person (or more than one), forgiveness may help you move forward. That doesn’t necessarily mean you must reconcile with the offenders — it’s possible that their actions are inexcusable and you can’t go back to the relationship you had before. But forgiving them will stop you from wasting your valuable energy on holding a grudge and, again, allow you to go forward and… read on >