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Articles (100)

 
JANUARY 2006

ANY DAY NOW, after investing 30,000 hours in research and testing, Kraft Foods will introduce an Oreo cookie that contains no trans fat. The company, like other food manufacturers, has been scrambling to meet a Jan. 1…

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FEBRUARY 2007

ONE OF THE BIGGEST, longest studies of aging and health has identified nine risk factors that are strongly linked with a person’s odds of living to at least a healthy age 85.The good news is that most of these keys to living a longer,healthier life are things you can control. …

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JANUARY 2007

TWO NEW SCIENTIFIC reports, issued simultaneously, conclude that for most adults the benefits of eating seafood outweigh the risks of possible contaminants such as mercury and PCBs. Although differing on how strongly they weight the evidence for seafood’s positive effects, both studies generally back the federal dietary guidelines’ and American Heart Association’s recommendations to eat fish twice a week.…

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APRIL 2007

IN A FINDING THAT challenges many of the promises of the multibillion- dollar diet and fitness industry, a new study suggests that cutting calories and exercising more are both equally effective for losing weight.…

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FEBRUARY 2005

But evidence proves elusive for cancer-preventing effects of YOUR HEART LOVES fruits and vegetables, according to a multiyear study of more than 100,000 participants conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers found that the more total fruits and vegetables participants ate, the less their cardiovascular risk.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2006

TOMATOES HAVE PLENTY of nutritional benefits, but can eating tomatoes also fight cancer? Sort of. Maybe. It depends. That’s how you might interpret the recent ruling by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), after two years of investigation, granting a “qualified health claim” for fresh, dried and canned tomatoes regarding four types of cancers.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2007

ARE THE APPARENT hearthealthy benefits of moderate alcohol consumption actually due to drinking? Or have previous studies, which have found that adults who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have a lower risk of heart attack than non-drinkers, been confused by other lifestyle factors? For example, moderate drinkers might also be more likely to eat a healthy diet or exercise regularly.…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2006

THE SHIFTING scientific story on “carbs” in your diet took another twist at the American Heart Association’s recent Scientific Sessions: Results from the OmniHeart study presented at the conference showed that substituting protein or monounsaturated fats for 10% of carbohydrates in an already healthy diet can reduce heart-disease risk.…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2005

COULD THE CANDY in that heart-shaped box of Valentine’s chocolates actually be good for your heart? Certainly, the nation’s candy makers would love for you to think so. Mars Inc., the global food conglomerate that makes M&Ms, Snickers and Dove bars, among other products, has spent 15 years researching the purported health benefits of chocolate, according to The New York Times. In 2003, the company introduced the CocoaVia snack bar, which is packed with the flavanols that are credited with chocolate’s heart-healthy qualities while being mostly free of cocoa butter; to date, Mars has sold CocoaVia only on the Internet. An American Heart Association meeting in November heard evidence that eating two CocoaVia snack bars daily could reduce cholesterol levels. In December, a “CBS Sunday Morning” segment touted Mars’ patented Cocoapro process that, according to a company news release, “retains much of the naturally occurring cocoa flavanols that provide potential health benefits.”…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2005

Another source of health-promoting flavonoids (see opposite page), as well as antioxidant chemicals called phenolics, is the humble onion. But new research at Cornell University finds that you need to eat more pungent onions to get the most benefit.…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2005

AWOMAN’S RISK from taking menopause hormones may depend on the age she starts taking them, according to an ongoing review of the two largest hormone studies. Data from one of the studies, the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), linked estrogen-progestin pills such as Prempro to increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer. So high were the risks, in fact, that the government study was halted two years ago, and many women were scared off hormone therapy altogether. (Subsequent analysis also found risk from estrogen-only pills such as Premarin.) But an earlier, 2000 analysis of data from the Nurses Health Study (NHS), another hormone test, had found seemingly contradictory results: Subjects who took hormones were 40 percent less likely to suffer heart attacks.…

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JANUARY 2007

COULD A GLASS OF ORANGE JUICE twice a day help improve your cholesterol levels? Researchers the University of California-Davis think so—provided that the juice is supplemented with plant sterols. In a new study, researchers found that reduced-calorie orange juice with added plant sterols reduced levels of Creactive protein, a marker for inflammation that may predict the risk of atherosclerosis. The juice mixture also decreased total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while increasing hearthealthy HDL cholesterol.…

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FEBRUARY 2007

LOW-CARBOHYDRATE eating plans, such as those popularized by the South Beach and Zone diets, don’t appear to raise the dieter’s risk of heart disease—despite higher intake of fat and protein.…

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2005

Cholesterol may not beCholesterol may not be the only culprit that physicians need to watch in patients with heart disease. Two new studies, both published in the New England Journal of Medicine, spotlight the role of C-reactive protein (CRP), a protein secreted by the body during inflammation. The researchers make the case that controlling levels of CRP may be as important as lowering cholesterol in fighting heart disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2006

IF HEALTH CONCERNS have caused you to switch to decaf coffee, new research may make you rethink your choices—especially if you’re also swigging colas instead of regular java. One new study found that drinking decaffeinated coffee—but not caffeinated coffee—may be linked to higher levels of LDL, the “bad cholesterol.”…

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MARCH 2008

THOUGH NOT AS WELL-KNOWN as other members of the vitamin alphabet, vitamin K could prove to be a weapon against the inflammation associated with chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2006

WHILE DIETARY FIBER has plenty of other benefits, it may not prevent colorectal cancer. On the other hand, eating a lot of processed meats—such as hot dogs, ham, bacon, sausage and lunch meats—probably does increase your risk of this cancer, which is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer deaths. But the good news is that—for reasons scientists can’t yet explain—eating chicken seems to be associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.…

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2006

IF YOU’RE CONFUSED about the health claims made by various grain products, you’re not alone. And two recent rulings from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—one of them aimed at preventing consumer confusion—may leave you scratching your head even more.…

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2005

BEFORE YOU RAISE TOO MANY TOASTS on this St. Patrick’s Day, drink in the latest findings linking heavy alcohol consumption and metabolic syndrome. You may be toasting a heart attack.…

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MARCH 2008

IN STUDY AFTER STUDY, whole grains have been credited with helping to lower your risk for a host of ailments, including stroke, type-2 diabetes and heart disease, as well as enhancing weight maintenance.…

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$ 1.95   |    APRIL 2006

DESPITE THE HEADLINES, the latest findings on dietary fat don’t mean you should give up on watching the fat in your food. True, the widelyreported $415 million governmentstudy, the Women’s Health Initiative(WHI) Dietary Modification Trial,generally failed to find benefits from alow-fat diet against breast and coloncancer or cardiovascular disease. …

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2008

A NEW STUDY FINDS that fish-oil capsules are as effective as eating fish for enriching the blood and other body tissues with health promoting omega-3 fatty acids.…

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$ 1.95   |    APRIL 2005

IF YOU’VE BEEN dragging your feet about boosting your whole grain intake to the new federal dietary guidelines’ recommendation of at least three ounces daily, here’s a new incentive to get with the program: A diet rich in whole grains appears to lower many people’s risk of developing heart disease.…

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FEBRUARY 2008

Something so simple as clipping on an inexpensive pedometer could motivate you to walk up to a mile more per day.…

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FEBRUARY 2008

Making sense of seemingly contrary findings on the risks from being overweight.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2007

Canola-oil makers have joined producers of olive oil in being able to add a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)- approved “qualified health claim” to their labels. The FDA recently okayed a petition filed by the US Canola Oil Association (USCA) back in January 2006 for a claim that substituting canola for products high in saturated fat, such as butter, can promote heart health. A similar claim for olive oil was granted in 2004.…

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$ 1.95   |    MARCH 2007

Women looking for an alternative treatment for hot flashes and other menopause symptoms will be disappointed in the latest findings about black cohosh.…

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MARCH 2007

IF YOUR BELLY enters the room before the rest of you, a new study finds, you may be headed for the cardiac ward.…

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$ 1.95   |    MAY 2005

Diets that promise weight loss by substituting steak for pasta and bacon for bread may be a recipe for increased heart-disease risk. A new report on a 15-year study of women’s health and eating habits by the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine suggests that if you’re replacing carbohydrates with protein, the type of protein you pick can make a difference to your long-term health. The researchers found an association between eating more vegetable protein and a reduced risk of heart disease. But eating more red meat and dairy products in place of carbohydrates was linked to greater coronary heart disease mortality.…

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$ 1.95   |    MAY 2005

YOUR MOM’S SUGGESTION to “go outside and play” may still be good advice—especially for men worried about prostate cancer. Research recently presented at the 2005 Multidisciplinary Prostate Cancer Symposium connects high blood levels of vitamin D—“the sunshine vitamin”—with reduced risk of developing the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer.…

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$ 1.95   |    JULY 2005

ARECENT HEADLINE in Time magazine asked the question many Americans are wondering in the wake of a controversial study by the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): “Is it OK to be pudgy?” The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), is among the most rigorous yet to look at the relationship between weight and mortality. To the bafflement of many scientists and the consternation of America’s $46 billiona- year diet industry, it found that people who are overweight but not obese have a lower risk of death than those of “normal” weight, as defined by the government using Body Mass Index (BMI).…

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APRIL 2007

EAT YOUR GREENS—and your purples and yellows, too. Brightly colored fruits and vegetables are already known to contain a wide range of healthful nutrients. Now a new Italian study says that increased intake of flavonoids—antioxidant components found in abundance in such foods—could lower your risk of kidney cancer by nearly a third.…

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MAY 2007

IF YOU’RE A WOMAN age 65 or older, new American Heart Association prevention guidelines suggest talking with your doctor about the potential benefits and risks of daily low-dose aspirin therapy to protect your heart—even if you’re healthy or at low risk of heart disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    JULY 2005

THANKS TO THE ARSENAL of powerful medical weapons doctors now have at their disposal to fight high cholesterol, it’s easy to overlook the importance of diet in that battle. Even if you know to cut back on dietary fats, the other side of the coin—what foods to eat more of to combat high blood cholesterol— often gets short shrift.…

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$ 1.95   |    APRIL 2006

IN A TURNAROUND that shouldn’t come as a big surprise to readers of the Healthletter, the American Heart Association (AHA) has concluded that soy protein has little or no effect on risk factors for heart disease—though it can still be a healthful replacement for animal protein high in saturated fat. Our December 2005 Special Report spotlighted growing doubts about soy protein, once touted as a “magic bullet” against a variety of health problems. Now the AHA has officially joined those backing off from the soy bandwagon, updating a 2000 scientific statement that endorsed soy protein’s potential for reducing cardiovascular risk.…

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$ 1.95   |    MAY 2006

HEART-HEALTHY HABITS such as staying physically active and controlling your blood pressure may also protect your brain. A blue-ribbon panel of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Cognitive and Emotional Health Project, which reviewed 96 studies on factors affecting the brain, found significant parallels between cardiovascular health and both cognitive and emotional health in people over 65.…

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AUGUST 2005

IF YOU’RE TRYING to eat more fish for your heart’s sake, forget the fish sticks and Filet-O-Fish sandwiches and skip Long John Silver’s. A new study suggests that fried fish and the like not only don’t help protect your heart, but may actually increase your risk of cardiac woes. Only fish that’s been broiled, baked or prepared in a similar way seems linked to reduced risk of heart disease, according to research recently presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association.…

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JANUARY 2008

THE MASSIVE Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) may finally have produced encouraging news: A low-fat diet seems to reduce postmenopausal women’s risk of ovarian cancer—and women with the unhealthiest diets benefit the most from cutting down on fat.…

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JANUARY 2008

If you’ve been diligent with your workout regimen but frustrated because you can’t see the results on the bathroom scale, take heart—literally. In fact, your heart may be benefiting more than you realize.…

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MAY 2007

HERE’S ANOTHER REASON for women to watch their cholesterol levels: A new analysis of data from the Women’s Health Study has found that women with elevated cholesterol levels had twice the risk for ischemic stroke compared to women with the lowest cholesterol levels,…

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$ 1.95   |    MAY 2006

THE INK WAS HARDLY DRY on the controversial news about low-fat diets from the Women’s Health Initiative (see last month’s Healthletter) when a second arm of the study reported more results that seemed to contradict conventional medical wisdom: In a sevenyear trial of 36,282 postmenopausal women, researchers found no significant benefit from calcium and vitamin D supplementation in preventing hip fractures.…

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$ 1.95   |    AUGUST 2005

EVERYTHING YOU READ about health and nutrition— including this newsletter— seems to say you should eat more fruits and vegetables. But unless you grow your own produce, finding fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables can be a challenge, or at least a chore. Fortunately, late summer and early fall are a perfect time to connect with folks who do grow their own produce— at your local farmers’ market.…

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JUNE 2007

STARTING YOUR DAY with a bowl of cereal is not just kids’ stuff. Findings presented at a recent American Heart Association conference suggest that eating whole-grain breakfast cereal can help protect against heart failure.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2006

LESS THAN a year after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began requiring labeling of trans fat in supermarket foods, consumer advocates have declared war on trans fat in restaurants.…

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$ 1.95   |    MAY 2006

CAN A CANDY BAR BE GOOD FOR YOU? Mars Inc., the maker of M&Ms and Snickers, certainly thinks so. In 2003, the company created the CocoaVia snack bar, which it promotes as packed with cocoa flavanols—antioxidants that may have hearthealthy qualities (see the February 2005 Healthletter). Now it’s also introduced a variety of new CocoaVia chocolate bars and rolled out retail sales nationwide; originally, the bars—priced at about $1 each—were available only online.…

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$ 1.95   |    JUNE 2006

SOME 35% OF AMERICANS take B vitamins— folic acid, B12 and B6—many in doses higher than those in multivitamin supplements. Until now, scientists had high hopes that those vitamins could help prevent heart attacks and strokes by lowering blood levels of homocysteine. Previous studies had linked high levels of this amino acid to heart disease, and some researchers even likened homocysteine to cholesterol as a key risk factor. By lowering homocysteine levels, they reasoned, you could lower a patient’s cardiovascular risk—much as statin drugs help by reducing unhealthy cholesterol.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2008

Though peeling an onion may make you cry, consuming supplemental quercetin—an antioxidant compound found in abundance in onions as well as in some other fruits and vegetables— may give folks with high blood pressure something to smile about.…

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JANUARY 2008

WE ALL KNOW the childhood rhyme, “Beans, beans, they’re good for your heart...” Well, it’s time to stop snickering.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2006

HAVE YOU HAD your green tea today? A large Japanese study of the effects of green-tea consumption on mortality suggests that several cups a day may help you have more tomorrows.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2005

FOLATE, A B VITAMIN found in foods such as leafy green vegetables and citrus fruit, may help keep your brain sharp as you age.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2005

ODDS ARE, EVEN IF YOU’RE IN SHAPE NOW, eventually you’ll become overweight.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2006

Besides the well-known heart-health benefits of eating fatty fish, regular consumption of fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines and herring may also help prevent kidney cancer.…

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JULY 2007

PUT DOWN THAT SALT SHAKER and step away from the processed foods! Long suspected as an accomplice in heart disease—indirectly, by boosting blood pressure—salt has finally been implicated as a direct culprit in cardiovascular risk.…

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$ 1.95   |    JUNE 2006

JUST BECAUSE that “sports drink” features athletes in its ads doesn’t mean it’s your healthiest choice to quench your thirst. In fact, a new proposed guidance system for beverage consumption ranks sports drinks near the bottom.…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2005

Tufts researchers conclude that eating right is still smarter than relying on supplements.…

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$ 1.95   |    JUNE 2006

ARE THERE REALLY “good carbs” and “bad carbs”? A new study suggests that relying on the glycemic index to choose your carbohydrates is not effective for controlling blood sugar levels or losing weight.…

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$ 1.95   |    JUNE 2006

HITTING THE WEIGHT ROOM twice a week for an hour can help women prevent or at least slow “middle-aged spread,” the onerous buildup of tummy fat that often takes hold with aging, a new study suggests. And that’s good news since belly fat—the deep fat that wraps itself around organs—is linked with heart disease and other ailments.…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2005

WOMEN, DON’T DEPEND on low-dose aspirin or vitamin E to cut your risk of cancer. That’s the conclusion of one of the largest and most thorough studies to date of these compounds’ hoped-for preventive effects.…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2005

NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS that a diet high in cereal fiber and whole grains may help slow the progression of plaque buildup in the arteries of heart-disease patients.…

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$ 1.95   |    APRIL 2008

COULD LEGUMES, such as peanuts and soybeans, help combat the world’s growing diabetes epidemic?…

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JULY 2006

SCIENTISTS ARE taking a closer look at the connections between what you eat and your risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2005

IT WAS DISNEY’S LITTLE MERMAID, Ariel, who sang, “I’ve got gadgets and gizmos aplenty, whozits and whatzits galore,” but even she might draw the line at the wave of new whozits and whatzits promising to help count calories that you burn. These pricey gizmos, from Timex as well as fitness companies such as Polar and Nike, go beyond the familiar pedometer to monitor heart rates and energy consumption. Some are home versions of the calorie-counters at fitness clubs. Many look like—and double as— wristwatches.…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2005

Study says it’s how much we drink, not coffee’s healthy properties, that make it #1.…

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APRIL 2008

EVERYBODY KNOWS that carrots are supposed to be good for your eyes, but now a new study suggests Bugs Bunny’s favorite food may also reduce your risk of dying from heart disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2006

EVEN AS RESEARCHERS seem to be confirming the link between abnormal weight and risk of death (see above), two other new studies cast doubt on the most common measure of overweight, obesity and underweight: Body Mass Index (BMI).…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2006

HIS HOLIDAY gift-giving season, think beyond the snowflake sweater and cheesesthrough- the-mail! Consider supporting your loved ones’ health…

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AUGUST 2007

AMERICANS average less than one serving a day of whole grains, and few of us get the recommended three servings or more per day. In fact, more than 40% of US adults typically eat no whole grains at all.…

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$ 1.95   |    NOVEMBER 2006

IF YOU’RE ALREADY CHANGING your lifestyle to fight heart disease, there’s good news: You may be helping to prevent Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia at the same time.…

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$ 1.95   |    OCTOBER 2005

But chocolate’s still no “health food”—it’s the flavonols.…

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$ 1.95   |    JULY 2006

GETTING TOO LITTLE SLEEP can lead to worse woes than bags under your eyes. A new study published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension identifies sleeplessness as a significant risk factor for high blood pressure.…

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$ 1.95   |    OCTOBER 2006

FORGET “5-A-Day.” Nutrition science “has just rocketed past” that familiar program designed to push produce consumption,…

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$ 1.95   |    OCTOBER 2005

NEED ANOTHER REASON to eat your leafy greens? Two new studies suggest that folate, a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, dried beans and some other vegetables and fruits, may help protect against hemorrhagic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    JULY 2006

ADIET RICH IN MAGNESIUM may help reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and, perhaps, a heart attack or diabetes. That’s the conclusion of new research funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and published in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.…

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$ 1.95   |    OCTOBER 2006

RESEARCHERS ARE TAKING a novel approach to understanding some of the possible heart-health benefits of eating fish: Maybe fish oils help regulate the heart’s electrical activity.…

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$ 1.95   |    JULY 2006

GO AHEAD, HAVE ANOTHER cup of coffee. A newly published study that followed some 120,000 men and women for up to 20 years has found no link between coffee consumption and higher risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).…

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$ 1.95   |    AUGUST 2006

THE PATH TO heart health starts on your plate—but doesn’t stop there. That’s the message of new American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines, the first update to its official recommendations in six years.…

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SEPTEMBER 2007

RESEARCHERS at Tufts’ Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) are turning that old adage, “You are what you eat,” on its head. They’re finding that, at least in part, you eat what you are—genetically speaking, that is.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2005

How to make the switch to healthier fats—without getting fat.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2005

This is only the third such qualified health claim the FDA has granted for a conventional food. In March 2004, it cited “supportive but not conclusive re s e a rch” that eating 1.5 ounces of walnuts daily may combat coronary heart disease.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2005

SHOULD YOU THROW those bottles of vitamin E supplements in the trash? That’s what the headlines out of a recent American Heart Association meeting left people wondering.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2005

All common vegetable oils c o n tain a mixture of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats. The major component of vegetable oils is monounsaturated or polyunsaturated, rather than saturated fat.…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2005

Lower blood sugar, avoiding traffic jams, finishing high school all linked to reduced risk.…

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$ 1.95   |    OCTOBER 2006

YOU CAN’T POUR a glass of orange juice without being aware of vitamin C, and every milk jug boasts of added vitamin D.…

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SEPTEMBER 2007

As if green tea didn’t have enough cheerleaders among the scientific community, a new study based in China has linked the traditional Asian quaff with reducing the risk for colorectal cancer by more than half.…

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$ 1.95   |    AUGUST 2006

KEEPING trans fatty acids out of your diet got easier in January when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated labeling of foods containing more than 500 milligrams of trans fat per serving.…

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$ 1.95   |    AUGUST 2006

DOES POLICOSANOL, a mixture of plant alcohols most often derived from sugar cane, really fight unhealthy cholesterol? More than 80 studies appear to prove policosanol’s power to reduce levels of LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. Policosanol is sold as a dietary supplement under dozens of brand names, at about $10-$15 for a 60-pill bottle, and is included in Bayer’s One- A-Day Cholesterol Plus vitamins.…

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DECEMBER 2007

Extra vitamin D linked to lower death risk.EVIDENCE KEEPS adding up that vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin,” is good for more than just strong bones.…

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NOVEMBER 2007

Experts from the American Heart Asso ciation and the American College of sports Medicine(ACSM)recently issued new recommendations for exercising—spelling out minimum levels…

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NOVEMBER 2007

Score one for fruits and vegetables, and another disappointment for nutrition in pill form. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables has been linked to improved heart health.…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2006

BOTHERED BY persistent heartburn or acid reflux—the painful symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which is caused by stomach acids backing up into your esophagus? Relief may be as close as your bathroom scale.…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2006

RESEARCHERS FUNDED BY the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute may have found another way in which “milk does a body good.” Their new study, published in Hypertension, suggests that milk and other dairy products can help combat high blood pressure—as long as the dairy is low in saturated fat.…

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NOVEMBER 2007

Worried about your risk of heart disease? Get out the tape measure. A new study indicates that your waist-to-hip ratio is a better predictor of atherosclerosis risk than waist circumference alone or even the highly touted Body Mass Index (BMI).…

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DECEMBER 2007

REGULAR EXERCISE that keeps the heart strong may also strengthen cartilage in the knees and protect older patients from osteoarthritis, according to a new Australian study.…

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$ 1.95   |    DECEMBER 2007

A new study in the UK has shown that a diet rich in fish, fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fats— the main components of what is sometimes called the “Mediterranean diet”…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2006

THERE MAY BE GOOD NEWS coming from an unexpected source— your salt shaker. A new report published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that replacing regular salt with a potassium- fortified alternative may help lower adults’ risk of death from cardiovascular disease.…

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OCTOBER 2007

DO RECENT FINDINGS linking even diet soft-drink consumption to metabolic syndrome mean, what the heck, you might as well have that sugary cola? Not so fast. It’s true that researchers found that people who consumed one or more soft drink daily were 48% more likely to develop metabolic syndrome—a precursor to heart disease and type-2 diabetes—than those averaging less than one soda daily. Soda drinkers were also at greater risk for components of the syndrome, such as obesity, hypertension and unhealthy cholesterol levels.…

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$ 1.95   |    SEPTEMBER 2006

NOT SO FAST! That’s the word from two researchers with the VA Outcomes research group in White River Junction, Vermont, when it comes to media reports out of major medical meetings. Their study concluded that such newspaper and broadcast stories are so often overstated or lacking in basic information and context as to be worthless—or even worse, dangerously misleading.…

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OCTOBER 2007

For years, you’ve been meaning to make healthy lifestyle changes—eating more fruits and vegetables, exercising, quitting smoking—but you just haven’t followed through. If you’re thinking now it’s too late, a new study says think again!…

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$ 1.95   |    JANUARY 2006

WANT A QUICK ASSESSMENT of your risk for heart disease? Get out the tape measure.…

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$ 1.95   |    FEBRUARY 2006

GETTING UP OFF YOUR DUFF can add almost four years to your life, according to a new analysis of data from the long-running Framingham Heart Study. Although many previous studies have shown a range of health benefits from physical activity—…

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NewsBites (69)

 
MARCH 2008

DOUGHNUT MAKER Krispy Kreme has finally jumped on the trans-fat-free bandwagon—but that doesn’t exactly make its sweet treats health food. The company’s UK and Australian outlets dropped trans fats last year, but the US division was slower to switch.…

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JANUARY 2007

MAYBE WHAT YOU NEED to get off on the right foot recovering from a heart attack are dance lessons.…

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JANUARY 2006

The song got it wrong—life is not just a bowl of cherries. Although cherries have many nutritional benefits, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants cherry marketers to stop claiming that the little red fruits are a cure-all, …

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FEBRUARY 2005

Here’s another reason to stop smoking and limit your salt intake: You can reduce your risk of stomach reflux. The uncomfortable condition in which stomach juices flow back into the esophagus, technically known as gastroesophageal reflux, causes heartburn; if severe and untreated, reflux can increase the risk of esophageal cancer.…

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FEBRUARY 2005

Reducing blood pressure below “normal” dramatically benefits heart patients.HOW LOW should blood pressure go? The surprising results of an international study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that, at least for heart-disease patients, “normal” blood pressure may not be low enough. The two-year study, led by the Cleveland Clinic, found that giving heart disease patients with “normal” blood pressure medication to lower their blood pressure had dramatic health benefits. Patients experienced as much as a 31 percent reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attack, stroke, death, hospitalization for chest pain and need for angioplasty or bypass surgery.…

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FEBRUARY 2006

TWO NEW REPORTS show how Americans have become couch potatoes. The first, issued by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), found that 54.1% of American adults fail to get the minimum level of physical activity necessary for health benefits—at least a halfhour daily. …

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APRIL 2006

HERE’S ANOTHER REASON to watch your waistline: Women with waistlines of 35 inches or more are at greater risk of heart disease than thinner women, according to a new study by researchers at New York- Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia. On Women’s Heart Day in 2005, the researchers measured the waistlines of more than 6,000 women without known heart disease and tested them for heart-disease risk factors. Waist circumference was strongly correlated with having multiple risk factors.…

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APRIL 2006

MODERATE ALCOHOL consumption seems to reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke—but could the same cardiovascular benefits also help keep blood vessels in the brain healthier? That’s what researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the Harvard Medical School decided to test. Between 1995 and 2001, they evaluated cognitive function in 12,480 participants, ages 70 to 81, in the Nurses’ Health Study, a long-running study of women’s health and lifestyle. They did a follow-up assessment two years later.…

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FEBRUARY 2008

THE TABLES may be turning against salt. After pressure from health activists, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently agreed to hold a public hearing on the regulatory status of salt.…

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MAY 2005

AN EXTENSIVE NEW STUDY seeking to test whether vitamin E protects against heart disease and cancer has instead poked another hole in the rapidly deflating promise of vitamin E as an elixir of youth. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that—at best—vitamin E supplements do no good in preventing heart attacks and cancer.…

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APRIL 2006

YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNEW that McDonald’s French fries aren’t health food. But until recently, not even the fastfood giant knew just how much trans fat was in its fries. Citing the results of an improved testing method, …

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MAY 2006

THE SMOKE CLEARING over Ireland signals more success in the battle against heart disease. A new study of Irish deaths from heart disease, which plunged 47% between 1985 and 2000 among ages 25 to 84, credits much of that decline to lifestyle changes, led by a sharp drop in smoking. Healthier cholesterol levels and reduced hypertension rates also contributed to cutting cardiovascular deaths.…

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MAY 2006

ANEW GOVERNMENT REPORT on aging has good news for Americans who’ll be turning 65 in the next few years. “Today’s older Americans are very different from their grandparents,” says Louis Kincannon, director of the US Census Bureau, which prepared the report with the National Institute on Aging. “They’re living longer with lower rates of disability.” Older Americans’ disability rates dropped from 26% in 1982 to 19.7% by 1999. Death rates for heart disease also declined among those 65-plus.…

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JUNE 2007

PRODUCTS CONTAINING corn oil can now claim to be good for your heart—but that doesn’t mean it’s OK to slather your supper with Mazola.…

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DECEMBER 2005

WHEN IT COMES TO exercise, the key to heart health isn’t how much you sweat—it’s how much time you put into physical activity.…