Forward to Monthly Features
7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips
Looking Younger Than Your Age May Mean Longer Life
A Perfect Smile
13 Simple Tips for Seriously Better Sex (Part II of III)
BPA Tied to Impotence in Men
7 Foods That Should Never Cross Your Lips
Note from Sandra: I received an abbreviated version of this article in a daily email from Dr. Mercola, but recalled that I had read the article in Prevention magazine, in the November 2009 issue. The author is Anne Underwood and the full article can be found at www.prevention.com.
1. Canned Tomatoes: The expert: Fredrick vom Saal, PhD, an endocrinologist at the University of Missouri who studies bisphenol-A (BPA). The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Acidity — a prominent characteristic of tomatoes — causes BPA to leach into your food.
2. Corn-Fed Beef: The expert: Joel Salatin, co-owner of Polyface Farms and author of books on sustainable farming. Cattle were designed to eat grass, not grains. But farmers today feed their animals corn and soybeans, which fatten up the animals faster for slaughter. A recent comprehensive study found that compared with corn-fed beef, grass-fed beef is higher in beta-carotene, vitamin E, omega-3s, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
3. Microwave Popcorn: The expert: Olga Naidenko, PhD, a senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group. Chemicals, including perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in the lining of the bag, are part of a class of compounds that may be linked to infertility in humans. In animal testing, the chemicals cause liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancer. Studies show that microwaving causes the chemicals to vaporize — and migrate into your popcorn.
4. Nonorganic Potatoes: The expert: Jeffrey Moyer, chair of the National Organic Standards Board. Root vegetables absorb herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides that wind up in soil. In the case of potatoes they’re treated with fungicides during the growing season, then sprayed with herbicides to kill off the fibrous vines before harvesting. After they’re dug up, the potatoes are treated yet again to prevent them from sprouting.
5. Farmed Salmon: The expert: David Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany. Nature didn’t intend for salmon to be crammed into pens and fed soy, poultry litter, and hydrolyzed chicken feathers. As a result, farmed salmon is lower in vitamin D and higher in contaminants, including carcinogens, PCBs, brominated flame retardants, and pesticides such as dioxin and DDT.
6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones: The expert: Rick North, project director of the Campaign for Safe Food at the Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. Milk producers treat their dairy cattle with recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or rBST, as it is also known) to boost milk production. But rBGH also increases udder infections and even pus in the milk. It also leads to higher levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor in milk. In people, high levels of IGF-1 may contribute to breast, prostate, and colon cancers.
7. Conventional Apples: The expert: Mark Kastel, codirector of the Cornucopia Institute. If fall fruits held a “most doused in pesticides contest,” apples would win. And increasing numbers of studies are starting to link a higher body burden of pesticides with Parkinson’s disease.
Looking Younger Than Your Age May Mean Longer Life
Study links perceived age to physical and mental functioning
(Health Day News) — People who look younger than their age tend to live longer than those who look older than their years, a new study suggests.
The finding came from research that involved 1,826 Danish twins, aged 70 and older, who were given physical and cognitive tests and then had their faces photographed. Three groups of volunteers looked at the photos and indicated the age they perceived the participants to be. Twins were assessed individually, and on different days.
The researchers, from the University of Southern Denmark, then tracked the twins for seven years and found that perceived age was significantly associated with survival, even after adjustments were made for actual age, sex and the environment in which each pair of twins was raised. The bigger the difference in perceived age, the more likely it was that the older-looking twin died first, they noted.
The researchers also found an association between perceived age and physical and mental functioning. Common genetic factors that influence both survival and perceived age may help explain the findings, the study authors explained.
“Perceived age — which is widely used by clinicians as a general indication of a patient’s health — is a robust biomarker of aging that predicts survival among those aged 70 and older and correlates with important functional and molecular aging phenotypes,” Kaare Christensen and colleagues wrote in their report, which was published Dec. 13 in the online edition of the BMJ.
More information:
The U.S. National Health Information Center offers healthy aging tips.– Robert Preidt
SOURCE: BMJ, news release, Dec. 13, 2009
Return to Top
National Health & Wellness Newsletter
Your body isn’t (quite) Jennifer Aniston perfect. And your hair may not be ready for a shampoo commercial. But with one simple trick, you can knock your dentist’s socks off.
Can you spell xylitol? According to Dr. Ellie Phillips, DDS, author of Kiss Your Dentist Goodbye, this natural sugar substitute is the secret ingredient for perfect teeth and gums. Exposing your teeth to a dose of xylitol three or four times a day, preferably after meals and snacks, is all it takes to starve nasty plaque and cavity-forming bacteria.
The catch: Many sugar-free gums and mints contain xylitol, but most of them do not contain it in quantities big enough to do much good. So, to shorten the distance to perfection, we recommend ordering Phillips-formulated xylitol products directly from Zellies.
Your dentist may have to shave a few days off his Caribbean vacation this year. Don’t let that bust your smile!
To order xylitol products, go to Zellies.com. For a complete dental plan from Dr. Phillips, check out CleanWhiteTeeth.com.
Note from Sandra: We started the Sex Q&A as part of our focus on Healthy Relationships in 2009 – but whereas the questions were initially rolling in – I don’t have a single question for this month’s newsletter. So, if you want to see this column continued in 2010 – PLEASE SEND IN YOUR QUESTIONS!!!
Please remember all who submit questions will remain anonymous.
If I do not have any questions by next month (February – the “Love Month”), then I will discontinue the column – at least as a regular feature. So, now’s your chance – ask now or you may miss your chance!
13 Simple Tips for Seriously Better Sex
(Part II of III)
Never in the mood? These surprising secrets will have you craving more by tonight.
By the editors of Prevention.com
Get Your Sex Drive Back
Can you remember the last time you couldn’t wait to get home and shimmy between the sheets?
Was it last week, last month? Last…year? We get it: Sometimes it’s easier to give into your excuses—I’m too tired, let’s just do it this weekend, it doesn’t even feel that great to begin with. But we don’t need to tell you that sex is essential for a healthy marriage—and also a healthy you. Research shows that a happy sex life can stamp out stress, reduce heart disease risk, and even improve immunity. But enough of the non-sexy talk. Try just one of these libido-lifting tricks today. You can thank us later.
5. Pop a Multi
Too tired to feel sexy? It may be a diet deficiency.
Two overlooked nutrients may be to blame for sex-derailing exhaustion. “Low folate levels can make you feel tired, with no energy for sex,” says Martha Morris, PhD, a Tufts University researcher; national surveys show that many women aren’t getting enough of this B vitamin. And low iron can deplete brain neurotransmitters, which can lead to lethargy, says Swiss researcher Bernard Favrat, MD. The fix for both problems: a daily multivitamin with 100% of the DV for iron (18 mg) and folate (400 mcg).
6. Break a Sweat Beforehand
Exercise primes your body to get in the mood. For some people, exercising too close to bedtime makes it hard for them to sleep. Take advantage of that found energy. “After 35 to 40 minutes of moderate exercise, everything in your body is going right,” says Janet Hyde, PhD, a professor of psychology and women’s studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Your blood is circulating, your nervous system is firing, so scheduling sex right after you exercise makes for good sex.”
7. Smell Your Way Sexy
These surprising scents will move you from the kitchen to the bedroom.
Cucumber, licorice, and baby powder have been shown to turn women on, increasing vaginal blood flow by 13%. Pumpkin pie and lavender increase blood flow by 11%. Try this: To cap a romantic dinner, serve pumpkin pie and keep a cucumber-scented sachet next to your pillow.
8. Ask About Those Little Blue Pills
The same meds that put your partner in the mood may also give your sex drive a lift.
Pills like Viagra increase blood flow to the genital area—something women need for arousal just as much as men do. Though the FDA hasn’t approved the pill for women, doctors can prescribe it off-label. Ask your healthcare provider if these meds might help you too.
So if your sex drive stinks because your whoopee lacks whoop or your hormones are running amok, a physical boost may reignite interest, says Laura Berman, PhD, founder of the Berman Center. However, if you’re slumped because you hate your thighs, resent your husband, or are simply more overworked than worked up, no pill will put you in the mood. It may just give you another headache—a common side effect. Your best bet is to work through those issues with a Clinical Psychologist.
9. Check Your Medicine Cabinet
Any antidepressants in there? They could be stealing your orgasm.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class of drugs that includes Prozac and Zoloft, “are probably the number one cause of anorgasmia [inability to have an orgasm],” says Andrew Goldstein, MD, of the Sexual Wellness Center in Annapolis, MD. They short-circuit your pleasure center by decreasing levels of the brain chemical dopamine (one of the sexual triumvirate, along with estrogen and testosterone). “People on SSRIs can lack that full range of emotion. They don’t get very depressed about anything, but they don’t get very excited about anything, either,” says Goldstein.
If that zombielike feeling is torpedoing your love life, ask your doctor whether you could switch to Wellbutrin, a drug that raises dopamine levels (preliminary studies show it may improve sexual desire in non-depressed women). One con: Wellbutrin can cause anxiety, which is common in depressed people. If you’re taking a shorter-acting SSRI, such as Zoloft or the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor Effexor, you may be able—with your doc’s okay—to take a short drug holiday. “If you don’t take it Friday morning, on Friday night and Saturday you can have intercourse and have an orgasm,” says Goldstein.
BPA Tied to Impotence in Men
Chinese factory worker study suggests more potential hazards from the plastics chemical
By Jennifer Thomas
HealthDay Reporter
Exposure to high levels of the controversial plastics chemical bisphenol A (BPA) significantly raised the risk of sexual dysfunction, including impotence and low sex drive, among Chinese factory workers, a new study has found.
The researchers stressed that the workers were exposed to BPA levels about 50 times higher than what most Chinese or Americans would be exposed to in everyday life.
Even so, they said the study adds to a growing body of research that shows that the ubiquitous chemical may be harmful to humans. BPA, used to make polycarbonate plastic (hard, clear plastic) and epoxy resin, is found in electronic and medical equipment, cars, sports safety equipment, and food and drink containers, including plastic bottles and the lining of cans.
“We found that male workers who had high exposure to BPA in the workplace had a much higher risk of male sexual dysfunction compared to other workers in the same city who were matched for age and other factors,” said lead study author Dr. De-Kun Li, a reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist at Kaiser Permanente’s Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. “A caveat here is those workers did have a much higher BPA exposure than most Americans or Chinese in the general population.”
The study is published in the Nov. 11 online edition of Human Reproduction.
In the study, Li and colleagues examined 230 workers in four Chinese factories near Shanghai that either manufactured BPA or used BPA to manufacture epoxy resin. The men worked as packagers, technical supervisors, laboratory technicians and maintenance workers.
The workers were compared to 404 workers in factories that made products ranging from textiles to machinery, in which there was no heightened BPA exposure. The workers from the two groups were matched by age, education, gender, and employment history.
Workers in the BPA factories were four times more likely to report erectile dysfunction, reduced sexual desire and overall dissatisfaction with their sex life. They were also seven times more likely to have ejaculation difficulties.
BPA workers were also more likely to report reduced sexual function within one year of beginning employment at the factory, the researchers found.
Researchers measured BPA exposure levels by taking air samples, reviewing factory records and interviewing workers about personal hygiene habits, use of protective equipment and exposure to other chemicals. Levels of BPA in the urine were also tested for a subset of workers.
Among BPA workers, the higher the exposure, the more likely they were to have sexual difficulties.
Most human exposure to BPA occurs when the chemical leaches into food and drink from packaging. Earlier this month, Consumer Reports announced that tests showed BPA in nearly all of 19 brand-name canned foods, including soups, juice, tuna and green beans.
In recent years, concern about the effects of BPA, particularly on fetuses and young children, have been growing. Animal studies have shown that BPA can cause reproductive abnormalities in both males and females by disrupting the endocrine system, according to background information in the study.
Other research has linked BPA to an increased risk of diabetes, cancer and heart arrhythmias. Male sexual dysfunction may be an early indicator of BPA-related problems that take longer to develop, Li said.
One chemicals industry representative took issue with the findings. Steven Hentges, executive director of the American Chemistry Council’s Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, said the occupational exposure of these factory workers far exceeds what the average person would ingest. Furthermore, the study did not make clear if the factories or the workers were following adequate worker-protection measures, such as wearing gloves and face masks and having proper ventilation.
“It is important to note that the study has little relevance to average consumers who use products that contain trace levels of BPA,” said Hentges.
Dr. Hugh Taylor, director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Yale University School of Medicine, said the findings are “very suggestive” but do not prove cause and effect.
“The results of the study are probably important for people who are working at BPA factories, but the results don’t support condemning BPA based on what people are exposed to at normal levels,” Taylor said.
Yet Taylor recommends that pregnant women and children in particular avoid BPA. Well-controlled animal studies have shown the chemical is linked to reproductive harm that may be irreversible during critical stages of development. In response to such concerns, some countries have banned the sale of baby bottles made with BPA.
“The totality of the literature suggests BPA has terrible consequences for human health,” Taylor said. “I tell my patients to stay away from hard plastics and canned goods while pregnant.”
More information:
There’s more on bisphenol A at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
SOURCES: De-Kun Li, M.D., Ph.D., reproductive and perinatal epidemiologist, division of research, Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Calif.; Hugh Taylor, M.D., professor and director, division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; Steven Hentges, Ph.D., executive director, Polycarbonate/BPA Global Group, American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Va.; Nov. 11, 2009, Human Reproduction
