BEST DIETS RANKINGS FOR 2023 BY U.S. NEWS Once again, it’s time for me to post the best diet rankings for the year from U.S. News. (This is the sixth year I’ve shared their rankings.) Here are excerpts from their article and lists from January 3, 2023 titled U.S. News Reveals the 2023 Best Diets. For the sixth consecutive year, the Mediterranean Diet takes the No. 1 spot for the Best Diet Overall, having emphasis on eating a lot of fruits, vegetables, olive oil and fish and a focus on diet quality rather than a single nutrient or food group. The...
CONTROL YOUR COUGH I guess it’s cough season. I’ve had one for a couple of days, but my nose isn’t stuffed and I don’t think I have a cold. Still, I wanted to find simple specifics on why/how we cough: Coughing occurs when something irritates cough receptors. It clears your airways of food and mucus plus keeps your breathing tubes open so you can receive oxygen. When triggered, the receptors transmit signals through the vagus nerve to your brain. Your brain processes this information and coordinates a cough. If you have a reflex cough, the signals probably go up the...
IS AN OTC HEARING AID FOR YOU? You may have seen the recent ads for over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. The FDA is finally allowing consumers to buy a new category of hearing aids without visiting a health professional and a prescription. This new class is for adults who believe they have mild to moderate hearing loss. (If you have significant difficulty hearing, these may not be for you.) You can now buy an OTC hearing aid directly in stores or online for much less than prescription hearing aids, which average $2,000 to $4,000 per ear. Amazon, for instance, offers several...
CHANGE YOUR MEAL SCHEDULE FOR POSSIBLE WEIGHT LOSS Having problems losing weight? Maybe from all the holiday meals plus cookies and pies? I certainly am. Even though I’m jogging a couple times a week and biking once or twice a week, I’m still 5 pounds over my weight a month ago. In past years I’ve lost my “holiday weight” over the next couple of weeks, but this year I resigned myself to it probably taking a couple of months. However, I just came across a January 1, 2023 online article by Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Health...
THE TOP 15 FITNESS TRENDS FOR 2023 The most popular fitness trends change every year. Compare the 2023 survey with last year’s post The Top 15 Fitness Trends for 2122. Here are excerpts from the 17th annual survey from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) authored by Walter R. Thompson Ph.D., FACSM published in its Health & Fitness Journal, Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends for 2023: For the last 17 years, the editors of this Journal have developed and circulated an electronic survey sent to thousands of professionals around the world to predict trends in the health and fitness industry for...
NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION: REDUCE NEGATIVE THINKING I recently read an article that quotes a National Science Foundation study finding that of our thousands of thoughts per day 80% are negative—and 95 % are repetitive. Sure, I’m making the regular New Year’s resolutions—lose the 5 pounds I’ve gained during the holidays, add-in more exercise per week, etc. But I’m going to concentrate on paying more attention to the repetitive thoughts running through my mind—especially the negative ones. One of the first I’ll look at is my silently swearing at (and wishing the worst for) all the “crazy” drivers on the road....
IS IT THE PANDEMIC OR GROWING OLDER? I’ve tried to keep active over the past 3 years through the pandemic. Still, I stopped going to my weekly yoga class and quit swimming at the Y for many months because of Covid fears. My jogging pace also slowed, and I shifted from running half marathon to 10 K events. I told myself the reason for these is probably my “growing older.” Yet, I used to exercise 5 or 6 days a week—but lately only 3. Instead of jogging for an hour plus, these days it’s more like 45 minutes. Same with...
PAXLOVID: THE WONDER PILL Sooner or later, everyone is going to catch Covid. This is what JoAnne and I have been saying for nearly three years. Well, It finally caught up with me. Ten days ago, I had a runny nose, had developed a cough, and felt a general lack of energy. I took the Covid do-it-yourself home test and, damn, it was positive. I immediately phoned my doctor. She didn’t waste a minute—and prescribed Paxlovid. JoAnne drove to the pharmacy, picked it up and I was soon taking my first dose. After 10 doses of three pills each—one dose...
NICOTINAMIDE HELPS PREVENT COMMON SKIN CANCERS l Basal-cell carcinoma, I recently found out, isn’t only the most common type of skin cancer, it’s the most common cancer, period. I visit my dermatologist 3-4 times a year for a skin screening. Each time she finds more basal cells—usually on top of my balding scalp but also on my ears, neck, and arms—and removes them using liquid nitrogen. On my visit last July, she recommended I begin taking a vitamin B3 supplement called nicotinamide. She told me that her patients who take the supplement twice daily greatly reduce the incidence of this skin...
INFLAMMATION & CHRONIC PAIN Recent research suggests that our using anti-inflammatory drugs and steroids to relieve acute pain may increase our chances of this becoming long-lasting chronic pain. For decades, we’ve been advised by our medical practitioners to treat pain with anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen (Advil) or naproxen (Aleve). We reach for these when we strain our back or sprain an ankle. But in fact, inflammation might actually be good for us. After reading a short piece with this surprising news in a popular magazine, I went online for the original research at McGill University in Montreal. Here are...
