Category: CFORCE

Contrary to popular belief, foods don't "expire." And most foods you buy are in fact perfectly safe to eat well past the "sell by" date you see on the label. They obviously may not taste as good because of a lack of freshness, but the notion that they are not safe to eat is generally not true. The whole idea behind these warning labels is to encourage consumers to eat the product at its peak of freshness and flavor, thus protecting the reputation of that product. And this makes perfect sense. As a food product passes its "expiration" date, it may get stale or go sour. But according to food safety experts, most spoiled foods aren't hazardous to a person's health if consumed.

Though some states require expiration dates on meat or milk, such dates on food are not required under any federal law. Yet many consumers look at this largely arbitrary and unregulated practice as an absolute. As a result, each and every day, a lot of perfectly good food goes into the trash. This wasted food is a significant part of the staggering 130 billion pounds of food that goes to waste in this country every year. Recent research on why people waste food conducted by SSRS, a market and survey research firm, found that almost 70 percent of those surveyed threw items away after the package date expired, thinking it reduced the chance of getting sick from eating it (an outcome that may be unlikely).

Updated: Fri Mar 03, 2017

Little things mean a lot. That there are lots of little things out there that we can do, adjustments we can make, that could prompt both immediate and long term benefits to our health.

The finding of a small, preliminary study recently conducted by researchers at the University of Auckland presents but one example — follow the age-old advice you may have heard countless times from your mother to sit up straight. Come to find, according to the study's preliminary findings, people with symptoms of depression may see at least some temporary improvements by doing just that.

Updated: Fri Feb 17, 2017

"To sleep, perchance to dream" is an age-old saying. Have you ever wondered what the ultimate purpose of sleep is? Rest assured, science has pondered and probed the question for a long time and has come up with lots of ideas. Some have said it's to save energy, while others suggest that it goes back to a primal need to lie still at night to hide from predators. Now, two studies published in the journal Science are forwarding a new notion. Their thesis is that we sleep in order to forget some of the things we learn each day. They contend that we are constantly storing new memories in our brains and the sheer noise of all of this information can bog down its circuitry. We sleep so our brains can pare back the brain's overload in order to allow the circuitry to operate more quickly and efficiently over the noise.

While the debate over the fundamental purpose of sleep remains unsettled and is sure to keep researchers awake nights for years to come, the health consequences of a lack of sleep appears much clearer. The idea that lack of sleep can clog a person's thinking, spike their emotions and generally throw them off their game is commonly accepted. Multiple studies have shown that excessive sleepiness can hurt work performance, wreak havoc on relationships and lead to mood problems like anger and depression.

As noted in a recent article by Jane Brody of the New York Times, regardless of the reason for sleeplessness, it can become a learned response. The more one frets about a sleep problem, the worse it can get. "Insomnia is like a thief in the night, robbing millions — especially those older than 60 — of much-needed restorative sleep," Brody writes. And, while the causes of insomnia are many, they can be expected to increase in number and severity with age.

Updated: Fri Feb 10, 2017

You know something's up when the two largest discount retailers in the United States — Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated and the Target Corporation — take it upon themselves to direct their suppliers to remove or restrict the use of certain hazardous chemicals from the products they produce. But that's exactly what has been going on in recent years.

According to Reuters News, the Target Corporation said it is introducing a policy aimed at removing a number of harmful chemicals used in its personal care, beauty and textiles products. This action is on the heels of its move to abolish more than 1,000 chemicals from some of its products in 2015. The retailer also further plans to invest $5 million over the next five years in "green chemistry," a process which involves the reduction or elimination of hazardous substances in products.

Target's announcement comes six months after Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated said it was pushing suppliers to remove or restrict the use of eight hazardous chemicals from some of the products it sells.

Updated: Fri Feb 03, 2017

Last week I touched on the power of the mind in healing and the science behind unlocking the mechanism of the mind-body connection. A good example of this is the lack of scientific acknowledgement and research of the central role the bond of friendship can play in saving lives and promoting health. There is a net health benefit to these relationships as well.

According to Census Bureau reports, nearly one fourth of all men and nearly 46 percent of women ages 75 or over live alone. Those who shut themselves off from the world are greatly susceptible to higher mortality rates, increased risk of depression, cognitive decline and illnesses. Multiple studies show a clear association with loneliness, higher blood pressure and dementia, as well as with risky health behaviors such as a sedentary lifestyle and smoking.

Exactly why friendship has such a significant effect remains unclear to researchers. Still, you have to wonder why something shown to be a powerful weapon in fighting illness, depression, speeding recovery, slowing the aging process and prolonging life is not made more of a wellness priority. An old adage once put it this way: one person caring about another represents life's greatest value.

Updated: Fri Jan 27, 2017

For some folks, I'm sure this will be anxiety-inducing news. According to a recently published analysis by the University of Oxford, it could be at least 10 years or more before any new generation of antidepressant medications comes to market.

"I'd be very surprised if we were to see any new drugs for depression in the next decade," noted Guy Goodwin, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Oxford. "The pharmaceutical industry is simply not investing in the research because it can't make money from these drugs," he adds.

Updated: Fri Jan 20, 2017

C FORCE

BY CHUCK NORRIS

RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2017

Updated: Fri Jan 13, 2017

Last week, I touched on our fundamental human requirement for interconnectedness as something we far too often fail to see as a basic need. What David Allan, CNN editorial director of Health and Wellness, refers to as the importance of "the decency we exchange with those around us." What happens when we lose touch with this essential need for interconnectedness? What happens when we find ourselves alone?

Numerous studies have shown that loneliness makes our bodies feel under attack. When that happens, physical and psychological stress responses are triggered. Loneliness can increase blood pressure and cholesterol. Unrelenting loneliness can suppress immune system function as well as significantly increase a person's risk of cardiovascular disease. According to a Psychology Today report, it can even cause a person's skin temperature to drop. Scientists believe that, given all the drastic ways in which loneliness impacts our bodies, it represents as great a risk for our long term health and longevity as cigarette smoking.

It's likely that we all have experienced the ache of loneliness at some point in our lives. Experts place the percentage at well over 40 percent of us. Yet, though it is a widespread condition, we're generally unaware of the dramatic ways it affects our minds and bodies. If allowed to become a persistent condition, it can lead to an isolated and disconnected life. And with it comes significant threats to a person's mental and physical health, as well as their life expectancy.

Updated: Fri Jan 06, 2017

As we near the close of a celebratory though hectic and emotional time of year, it's important to remember all the many people who don't get time off work to enjoy the season with their loved ones. For those in certain demanding, stress-inducing lines of work - particularly doctors, nurses, military personnel, police officers and firefighters - it has to be an extremely difficult period.

I was reminded of this by a short essay written in 2013 by Dr. John Henning Schumann, the host of the radio show Tulsa's Medical Matters. The reprint is currently posted on NPR. In his essay, Dr. Schumann reflects on a young doctor's life during residency training with hospital shifts lasting from 16 to 28 hours with no holiday breaks; of how the holidays fall during a difficult midpoint in the year, characterized by high stress and sagging morale for new doctors in that final stretch toward certification. And of the added stress of knowing you've been assigned to your first shift working Christmas day, a day known for its influx in patient deaths from natural causes; what is known as the "Christmas effect."

The Christmas holiday effect on mortality, though not fully clinically understood, has been statistically established in the United States for a number of years. People's ability to somehow modify their date of death based on dates of significance has been both confirmed and refuted in various studies.

Updated: Fri Dec 30, 2016

For generations, working-class families have steadied themselves in the struggle to get ahead by the notion that, in this country, a better life was possible if we just worked hard. For the most part, that has held true. Research shows that during the past 50 years, a majority of children grew up to achieve the markers of what we identified as a better life; tending to earn more money, to live longer and enjoying higher living standards than their parents had achieved. That is, until now.

According to a recent economic study released by Stanford University, the widening gap between rich and poor Americans has pushed the chances of children earning more money than their parents down to nearly 50 percent; a sharp fall from 1940, when 90 percent of kids were destined to move up the income ladder.

Updated: Fri Dec 23, 2016

A report has revealed that, among the clinically depressed, doctors have far higher rates of depression than the average person. According to a recent study from Brigham and Women's Hospital as reported by Time magazine, medical students are also two to five times more likely to have depression than the general population.

"It's kind of paradoxical, give that they should recognize the signs better than anyone," says study author Dr. Douglas Mata.

Despite these alarming numbers, few doctors or medical students seek treatment for their condition. Sadly, it seems that mood disorders like depression are not taken seriously, even by physicians. As the Time investigative report revealed, the reasons that doctors have failed to seek treatment include many of the same factors that prevent so many who can afford care from receiving it. Included is the stigma attached to doing so. It is said that within the medical profession, issues of depression have long been viewed as "an open secret."

Updated: Fri Dec 16, 2016

Since its inception at the end of World War I, Veterans Day has served as our opportunity to honor those who have served, as well as those who continue to serve, in our country's armed forces. But such tributes represents only a part of the kind of reflection that this day is intended to bring on. We also have the responsibility to ask ourselves whether we, as a nation, are doing right by them; and if the answer to that question tips at all into the negative, to commit ourselves to ensuring that our military and political leaders put things right, without delay.

That the system of health care provided by Department of Veterans Affairs needs to change seems a given (even within the institution itself). We hear often about issues of access, the need to speed up the timeliness of service, of the bureaucratic hurdles our veterans and their families must overcome, of shortages of the resources front-line clinicians need to perform their jobs. It's easy to forget the level of commitment that is there — and has always been there — from those providing the care; of their extraordinary level of compassion and skill these VA service providers represent. I was reminded of this important point by a recent University of Michigan's Health Lab blog post by Dr. Sanjay Saint, a research fellow and former practicing physician at four different VA hospitals.

Updated: Fri Nov 25, 2016

On the eve of Veterans Day, a massive veterans spending bill died in congress and it hardly made a sound. It was aimed at expanding health care and education among a number of other benefits, and included calling for the acquisition of 27 new medical facilities. According to a USA Today report, a majority of senators felt it too big a budgetary bite. They also felt that its passage would further burden a Department of Veterans Affairs already struggling to keep up with existing promised benefits and programs.

What troubles me most about this news item though, is that so few have taken notice. You have to ask yourself, could such a lack of interest be a direct result of the growing number of Americans less and less directly connected to military service; making such items seem less directly relatable and less newsworthy?

According to a report from the Pew Research Center, while more than three-quarters of Americans today over the age of 50 reports an immediate family member who had served in the military; when looking at Americans ages 18 to 29, the share was reduced by two-thirds. We now find ourselves in a situation where a smaller share of Americans currently serves in the U.S. Armed Forces than at any other time since the era between World Wars I and II. There exists an expanding divide between people in uniform and the civilian population. And it represents but one problem facing today's military.

Updated: Fri Nov 18, 2016

I am proud to say I am a former member of the United States Air Force. And, like many young men in America of my generation, this military experience played an important role in instilling in me a sense of character, discipline, camaraderie and respect that has served me my entire life. So, if you are reading this on Friday, November 11, I hope you will join me in saluting and recognizing the more than 21 million veterans of military service currently among us in this country. Let us use this occasion — Veterans Day 2016 — not merely to celebrate, but to maximize our commitment as a nation to ensure that service members, veterans and their families have full access to the opportunities, resources, and support they have so clearly earned. In exchange for their service and sacrifice, let us commit to also fulfilling the covenant this nation entered into with these men and women to heal, restore and reinstate them to their proper place in our society; to realign them with their fundamental and inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness.

"We want to be sure that we're paying attention and that we're connected to our veterans; that they're connected to support services and health care," says Kathryn Power. Power is a regional administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a little-known government agency (working under the federal Department of Health and Human Services) tasked with trying to fill the gap in veteran care by getting community agencies more attuned to the special support services and health care issues that can follow military service.

Many military retirees and veterans don't live in locations where they can access military or VA treatment facilities. Among this group are approximately 500,000 men and women of the Reserve Components and National Guard, so many of whom served in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan. These service members typically return to their previous sources of health care after being released from active duty assignments; never utilizing the services to which they are entitled. It has long ago been accepted that anyone who has been in combat will sustain the effects of that traumatic experience, whether they have visible physical injuries or not. Many of our neighbors are not getting the post-service care they need from health care providers simply because their providers don't know that they are veterans or how to optimally communicate with them once they do know.

Updated: Fri Nov 11, 2016

While, as reported last week, the war on dietary fat is now officially over, the fight against junk food is about to escalate. According to a report released this week by the Associated Press, the U.N.'s special representative on "the right to food" has proclaimed junk food to now qualify as a human rights concern.

"Within the human rights framework, states are obliged to ensure effective measures to regulate the food industry," says the United Nation's Hilal Elver. Her concerns center on policies that have allowed large global corporations to flood the world market with cheap, nutrient-poor foods, forcing poor people to choose between economic capability and optimum nutrition. The UN believes that the current situation is in effect violating their right to adequate food.

Elver is particularly concerned by aggressive marketing strategies to promote junk food to children, especially in developing countries. As I noted several weeks ago, a recent report by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems Nutrition has proclaimed that diet and nutrition now pose the biggest risk factors for people's health across the globe, as well as its concern that the sale of processed foods is now growing the fastest in developing countries.

Updated: Fri Nov 04, 2016

We like certainty. We seek it; we're comforted by it; it helps us clearly understand what's before us in our constant and primal quest for safety. Uncertainty, on the other hand, is uncomfortable. It creates tension. It leads to confusion. It can be debilitating. So when we're given advice based on "expert findings" regarding the food we should eat and the exercise we should pursue to maintain and promote good health, if the source is credible we want to believe it with certainty. The problem is that while there is no shortage of theories on this subject, there remains no gold standard to measure diet or exercise that health professionals agree upon.

And when health experts tell us, as they have for the past 40 years, that, if you don't eat fat, you (in essence) won't get fat, we are inclined to believe it. But as Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health nutrition expert David Ludwig recently pointed out, longstanding recommendations from the government and all major professional nutrition associations steering us away from fat were based on limited scientific evidence. It's time the health community own up to the fact that this 40 year investment in health practice and policy has been a "failed experiment," says Ludwig.

Experts now concede that not all fats are bad. They'll even go as far as to admit that some are healthy and important in a balanced diet. There are also several recent studies that have found that high-fat diets actually produce greater weight loss than traditional low-fat diets.

Updated: Fri Oct 28, 2016

As noted last week, a report by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington revealed that while the world population has gained more than a decade of life expectancy since 1980, healthy life expectancy gains have not been as dramatic. And when looking at health span as opposed to life span among the world's wealthier regions, North America has the worst healthy life expectancy at birth for both men and women.

We are living longer, but living with the consequences of more years stricken with illness and disability. If we are to change this health expectancy trend, we must start at a major source of the problem. According to a recent report by the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems Nutrition, diet and nutrition are now the biggest risk factors for people's health across the globe.

Updated: Fri Oct 21, 2016

Are you ready for a little good news for a change? According to a recent study conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington titled "The Global Burden of Disease," globally, health is improving and life expectancy is rising. According to the study, the world population gained more than a decade of life expectancy since 1980. The current number: 69.0 years in men and 74.8 years in women.

The study analyzed 249 causes of death, 315 diseases and injuries and 79 risk factors in 195 countries and territories between 1990 and 2015 and showed a large decline in death rates from communicable or infectious diseases. The rate of people dying from cardiovascular disease and cancers has also fallen. But these gains are far from uniform across nations and continents.

According to Reuters, the study also revealed that while healthy life expectancy had increased in the vast majority of countries studied, it has not risen across the board as much as overall life expectancy. When looking at health span as opposed to life span among the world's wealthier regions, for example, North America was shown to have the worst healthy life expectancy at birth for both men and women. Yes, we are living longer, but living with the consequences of more years stricken with illness and disability.

Updated: Fri Oct 14, 2016

Legendary comedian Jack Benny was known for his ability to milk a pause for a laugh like no other. He also developed a persona of being extremely tight fisted with his money, which was a source of many of his jokes and, ironically, the complete opposite of his kind and giving nature offstage. One of his most famous routines, often repeated upon popular request, went back to his days on old time radio, as far back as 1948. In the radio routine, a mugger accosts Benny on the street and demands, "Your money or your life!" This is followed by a long silence and cascading laughs that went on for two-and-one-half minutes, it is said. Many people still believe it to be the longest sustained laugh in entertainment history. Finally, the exasperated mugger breaks in and says: "Look bud, I said your money or your life!" To which Benny replies, "I'm thinking it over."

I mention this famous routine, partly because Jack Benny was a most beloved figure of the 20th Century, a grand performer and worthy of remembrance. But mostly because the question "your money or your life?" presented as a choice completely removing the crime scenario, is today no laughing matter. We are constantly being faced with decisions both big and small that pit time against money. According to a GOBankingRates survey, the number one New Year's resolution entering 2016 was to "Enjoy life to the fullest." But what does that mean exactly?

A recent study published by San Francisco State University found that people who spent money on experiences rather than material items were happier and felt the money was better spent. But what if given the choice between more time or more money, which would you choose? Which choice do you feel would lead to greater happiness?

Updated: Fri Oct 07, 2016

An estimated 20 million students have now entered their college freshman year in this country. The grueling four years ahead should not be expected to be easy, nor should they be. Such is the process of commitment to challenge and personal growth, of educating and shaping students for success. But, as I pointed out last week, young adulthood is an especially critical and vulnerable period regarding mental health. According to the 2015 American Freshman Survey, nearly 10 percent of incoming college freshmen last year, close to an all-time record, reported feeling "frequently depressed."

We should have expected it. Across the U.S. there's been an uptick in the percentage of teens having episodes of depression. According to researchers at Columbia University in New York, roughly one-in-nine teens in the United States has suffered a major depressive episode at some point. In 2014, an estimated 15.7 million adults aged 18 or older in the United States reported having at least one major depressive episode in the past year. In addition, a federal data analysis also recently revealed that suicide in the United States has now surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, with increases in every age group except older adults.

Updated: Fri Sep 30, 2016

As if we needed any more evidence of the connectivity of mind and body in determining our overall health, neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh have just provided it. Their study, reported in the online Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, has found concrete evidence for the neural basis of a mind-body connection. The findings shed new light on how stress, depression and other mental states can alter organ function and demonstrates a true anatomical basis for what has become known as psychosomatic illness.

The research also provides an underlying neural explanation as to why activities like meditation, yoga, and Pilates — even the martial arts — prove helpful to so many in modulating the body's responses to physical, mental and emotional stress. Add to the list mental health counseling.

Yet, even armed with this knowledge, I suspect most of us react quite differently when we hear the terms "physical health" and "mental health." And — even more to the point — to the idea of "physical illness" and "mental illness."

Updated: Fri Sep 23, 2016

As we say goodbye to those "Dog Days' of Summer," let's also be reminded that this period of time between July and early September really has nothing to do with hot, sultry weather and its effect on lazy carnies. The term originally came into use in ancient Greece and a belief that a particular constellation of stars associated with a particular weather pattern looked like a dog chasing a rabbit. The phrase was originally translated from Latin to English about 500 years ago. The "dog days" thought came to me this past week as stories began to appear of a groundbreaking new scientific study revealing that dogs understand both the meaning of words and the intonation used to speak them.

What dog lovers and trainers have long believed has now been scientifically confirmed — man's best friend not only hears the meaning of human speech, but also perceives the emotion behind it. Dogs not only can separate what we say and how we say it, but they can also combine the two for a correct interpretation of what those words actually mean. Most significantly, the findings developed by researchers at the University of Budapest demonstrate that dogs are more like humans than we have believed. Dogs process language using the same regions of the brain as people.

Using the brain activity images, researchers saw that the dogs processed familiar words regardless of intonation and they did so using the left hemisphere of the brain, just as humans do in interpreting language. The tone or the emotion behind the word, on the other hand, was analyzed in the auditory regions of the right hemisphere, just as it is in people.

Updated: Fri Sep 16, 2016

Just a little over 52 years ago, best-selling author and ecologist Rachel Carson was famously called to testify before Congress. A year had barely passed following the publication of her groundbreaking book "Silent Spring" documenting the dangers posed by rampant and indiscriminate use of pesticides and herbicides. The result of four years of painstaking research, much of the data and case studies that Carson drew from were hardly new. But it would take Carson to compile the data and her powerful and elegant prose to bring these disturbing facts to the general public, making them inescapable for policymakers.

"Every once in a while in the history of mankind, a book has appeared which has substantially altered the course of history," noted Senator Ernest Gruening at the time.

What has been lost in most accounts of this moment is the extent of this woman's courage as she made her way to take a seat at a long wooden table to address a Senate subcommittee on pesticide use. She was in advanced stages of breast cancer, having already survived a radical mastectomy. Her pelvis was so riddled with fractures that it was nearly impossible for her to walk. To hide her baldness, she wore a dark brown wig.

Updated: Fri Sep 09, 2016

As I mentioned last week, according to a 2006 study, the typical kid in the United States will see, on average, 4,000 food-related advertisements per year. A whopping 98 percent of those ads are for food high in fat, sugar or sodium. As I further noted, in 2008, the Federal Trade Commission presented a report to Congress revealing that food and drink companies were spending $1.6 billion every year targeting children. Faced with troubling information they could no longer ignore, policymakers signed letters urging the manufacturers to self-regulate. By 2012, sensing the threat of Congressional intervention, food industry spending on child-focused ads dropped 20 percent. What is the percentage today, you might ask? There is no way of knowing, for such expenditures are no longer being measured by the Federal Trade Commission.

The above bears repeating this week, given equally eye-opening new data from the American Heart Association and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. According to the survey findings, kids ages 2 to 18 typically take in two to three times the amount of sugar recommended by guidelines recently provided by the American Heart Association. Research from the American Heart Association published August 22 in the journal Circulation, recommends that parents limit their child's "added sugar" daily consumption to six teaspoons — the equivalent of approximately 100 calories or 25 grams, and deems this goal to be "an important public health target."

This six-teaspoon recommendation may be difficult to follow, in that so many processed foods in the supermarket that kids have been conditioned to crave are also engineered to be high in sugar and low in fiber. Taking in too much added sugar from highly marketed sugary foods and drinks displaces healthier foods in the diet. This can result in weight gain, reduced HDL (known as "good" cholesterol) or worse.

Updated: Fri Sep 02, 2016

I told myself that I was done with subject. Enough with writing about the Rio Olympics and the parade of commercial messages that steer us to food and beverage choices that are wrong for us, while facilitating a disconnect between what nutrition experts and the public perceive to be healthful foods. Then it happened. A commercial featuring a smiling family with two perfect little children seemingly celebrating the moment with their meal of chicken nuggets; right in sync with the emotional tone of the sporting accomplishment that preceded it immediately followed an absolutely exhilarating moment of Olympic triumph on the TV screen.

A marketer would call it brilliant. The idea for these ads is to reach not just the adults, but young children especially and to create an emotional attachment to the product that is featured. Accomplish that, and you have a customer for life. This effort goes far beyond mere commercials. Think of all those shots of the Olympic Village, especially those constantly repeated panning shots down the long line of athletes queued up to get into the Village McDonald's. Does this not fit neatly in line with the notion that the road to Olympic glory is indeed paved with chicken nuggets? Might they also be trying to send a message that we can outrun the calories taken while visiting this fast food giant?

What most folks may not know is that there are few alternative food choices in the Village. And even nutritionists will tell you that there's nothing wrong with eating a little junk food after many months of disciplined eating in preparation for an event; that is, when the event is over. And perhaps the biggest incentive: the food at this particular McDonald's is free for all Olympic athletes and coaches (another brilliant stroke of marketing).

Updated: Fri Aug 26, 2016

Many things influence a person's eating habits. Knowledge of what is considered healthy and what is not would be one, but I doubt it would make it to the top of the list. Certainly, at this moment, headline news about what the elite athletes in Rio consume to help them reach peak performance (devised with the help of dieticians and nutritionists) might be another. Yet, in the end, such information may only serve as just one more fact to feed our curiosity about a sports star.

Let's face it; so much of what we consume is not driven by knowledge, but by basic craving and impulse. The process of what we eat starts in our heads. And no one is more in our heads than a food industry that spends billions of dollars in marketing its message in every means possible. Says research from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, food cravings often arise to satisfy emotional needs, such as calming stress and reducing anxiety. And cravings that are spurred by emotions are typically for foods containing fat, sugar, or both. Now think of how often during these Olympic Games a moment of emotional triumph, of peak fitness and performance, has been followed by a warm and fuzzy word from the sponsors of a popular tempting pleasure.

I think it's lost on no one that, as we bid the games adieu, the tally of medals handed out at the Rio Olympics will pale in comparison to the number of commercials viewers will have endured. And when it comes to world records, NBC hit theirs before the first event took the stage — $1.2 billion in national ad sales. And high among the biggest spenders were quick-service restaurants, beverages and package goods.

Updated: Fri Aug 19, 2016

With a whopping 6,755 hours of Summer Olympics programming via multiple networks and 4,500 hours of live-streamed digital coverage to feast upon, it got me to wondering what might be the health and fitness leftovers for your average couch potato following the closing ceremony.

Beyond national pride and the spirit of completion drawing us to the screen, we are witnessing a spectacle of absolutely extraordinary feats of flexibility, strength and skill. These qualities are certainly on display within the ranks of the U. S. gymnastics team, especially the women's team.

Dr. Timothy Miller, an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is watching as well. To the question of why these female gymnasts are so incredibly flexible, their age is a major factor, he tells the folks at Live Strong. There was a time when the average female gymnast was in their 20s and 30s. This all changed at the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics when a 14-year-old Romanian gymnast with the now iconic name of Nadia Comaneci won three gold medals, as well as silver and a bronze.

Updated: Fri Aug 12, 2016

I'm sure it's no shock to you to learn that people nowadays are working well into what used to be retirement age. In a continuing reversal of a 1980s trend of taking an early exit from the workforce, a Pew Research Center report shows that the number of those older than 65 now holding a job reached 18.8 percent this year. This is up from 12.8 percent of the workforce in 2000 and now accounts for nearly a third of all seniors.

The reason for this trend is complex. Certainly the fact that there are fewer people on fixed pensions today, the fact that Social Security alone doesn't provide economic stability anymore, and that a shockingly high number of people at retirement age have no savings are all factors. But there is clearly something else going on.

According to the Pew Research Center report, during the past 16 years employment rose not only among 65 to 69-year olds, but also among those seniors 70 to 74. The 75-plus population still working has increased to 8.4 percent during that time.

Updated: Fri Aug 05, 2016

It seems like with every scan of the TV viewing menu nowadays you are bound to come across a show with kids cooking in competition with other kids, maybe with even a "Master Chef" title on the line, or as a celebrity chef sidekick. From Julia Child to the Galloping Gourmet and the Food Channel and Cooking Channel, our fascination with the spectacle of cooking has been a mainstay of TV entertainment. And in regard this current trend, let's hope it's not just a passing fancy. We need kids in the kitchen.

Nutritionists have known for some time now that in order to get people to change what they eat, we need to provide them with more access to affordable, healthy food as well as information on how to cook and prepare it. Getting kids into the kitchen preparing the food they and their families will eat results in them viewing food in an entirely new way. If given the right ingredients, that act alone can raise the standards of the quality of the food both they and their family eat.

If you need any more convincing of the power of young people as a catalyst for change, just look at the impact they are currently having on the soft drink industry.

Updated: Fri Jul 29, 2016

Last week I touched on the shocking number of deaths that occur in this country due to prescription drug abuse and a concern about how readily available prescription drugs are to teens and young adults. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, prescription and over-the-counter drugs are the most commonly abused substances by Americans age 14 and older (following marijuana and alcohol). As if that wasn't a disturbing enough thought, studies also show that teenage risk-taking tends to heat up during the summer months.

With such alarming statistics about the dangers that lurk out there for today's young people, it's easy for a parent to feel overwhelmed. But despite what we hear about "kids of today" spinning out of control, the facts tell us something quite different. On the whole, teenagers today are much better behaved than the previous generation. So says a report published last month from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Compared to adolescents in 1991, today's teenagers are less likely to carry weapons, smoke cigarettes, try alcohol, and more likely to wear a seatbelt than the generation that preceded them.

Studies also show that adolescents who have open lines of communication with their parents — who describe them as available and understanding — are less likely to engage in dangerous behavior than others. As noted by psychologist Lisa Damour, director of Laurel School's Center for Research on Girls, adults who establish and uphold rules tend to raise adolescents who are less likely to use illegal drugs and alcohol as well.

Updated: Thu Jul 21, 2016

This past Sunday's front page story in the Los Angeles Times sounded an increasingly familiar and alarming cry: More than 1 million tablets of OxyContin — by far the nation's both bestselling and widely abused painkiller — have ended up in the hands of Los Angeles criminals and addicts. The news is disturbingly consistent with other reports we are reading from around the country. According to government statistics, overdose deaths from prescription opioids have nearly quadrupled since 1999. More than 194,000 people have died. It's estimated that nearly 4,000 people begin abusing those drugs every day in this country as the prescription drug epidemic continues to bleed into a heroin crisis that is becoming pandemic, destroying families and communities in its wake.

The link between prescription painkillers and heroin is in no way exclusive to OxyContin. The painkiller Fentanyl, for example, was recently referred to in a report by the New York Times as "heroin's deadly cousin." This pharmaceutical is meant for cancer patients already on painkillers but experience pain that cuts through their standard medication. Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than morphine and dealers are said to cut it into a number of other drugs to increase the high along with the danger for unsuspecting buyers.

According to the health news and information website, HealthGrove, though doctors are typically not advised to prescribe this drug, even for acute postoperative pain, some do. Beyond its role in the illicit drug trade, the prescribed use of Fentanyl can, and has, caused patient complications, including death.

Updated: Fri Jul 15, 2016

Yes, we consume a shocking amount of junk food in this country. In fairness, here's some good news about eating habits: Americans are also adding more whole grains, nuts and seeds to their diets and cutting back on sodas and sugary drinks. So says a study conducted by Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. Over the years, Americans 20 and older reduced their intake of sugar-sweetened sodas by nearly half, according to the study.

The research is based on 24-hour dietary recall reports, elicited from a cross section of close to 34,000 American adults. Overall, the percentage of Americans with poor diets based on the American Heart Association standards dropped from 56 percent to 46 percent during the study period. The proportion of people with ideal diets remains low at about 1.5 percent. To put it in perspective, less than one-third of American adults are meeting federal guidelines for most foods.

Also troubling is the fact that racial disparity in eating habits remained throughout the study period. While the proportion of white people with poor diets declined, there was little changed among black and Hispanic adults.

Updated: Fri Jul 08, 2016

Last July, I wrote a story about the widely publicized Food and Drug Administration findings that trans fats are no longer generally recognized as a safe food additive. I went on to talk about how, for regulators charged with protecting our health, it never seems to be whether a substance we are exposed to may be harmful or even toxic in concentrated form. To the FDA, the key issue isn't the chemical, but how much of the substance consumers might ingest per serving. They rely on the measure of "the best science available" in making their determination of what are safe levels; and, of course, the science they use can change over time. In all of this, cumulative dietary exposure to these substances never seems to be a consideration.

Recently, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences added styrene to its list of substances "reasonably anticipated" to cause cancer. Styrene has also been linked to nerve damage and hormonal disruption. We are talking about the chemical used in the manufacture of popular Styrofoam cups and food containers — a product based on what is called styrene monomers. When we drink a cup of coffee or spoon heated chicken noodle soup or chili out of a Styrofoam cup, we are also taking in small doses of chemicals that leach from the container. Heat activates this transfer, as does oil, acids and alcohol.

I reported in July of this year of how the Environmental Protection Agency National Human Adipose Tissue Survey collected numerous samples of human fat tissue in 1986. It detected styrene residues in all the samples. It's now very likely that we are walking around with styrene residue in our system courtesy of disposable food containers.

Updated: Fri Jul 01, 2016

As pointed out in the past, despite everything we know and has been said about the health benefits of exercise, a recent study shows us that 43 percent of employed adults do not exercise nearly as often as they should. At the same time, a new joint study from researchers from the University of Sao Paulo and Tufts University in Boston reminds us that over half of what Americans eat (nearly 60 percent) is considered "junk food." These behaviors continue to persist in this country despite constant warnings that being sedentary and eating this way is sure to increase one's risk for chronic health conditions like diabetes, obesity, heart attack, stroke and cancer.

So what's standing between those with the desire to be healthier and the action needed to achieve better health? Could it be, at least in part, information overload and the human ability to tune things out? Maybe we should back up a bit and try to simplify the matter.

As Simin Nikbin Meydani, director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, tells Time magazine, eating healthier does not have to be complicated and done by the numbers. You don't have to go vegan or Paleo. You can start by simply making sure that your plate contains foods of more than two different colors. If it's got green, red and brown, for example, you could be on your way to getting the nutrients you require. We should also make sure you consume it and enjoy it with someone else. "Sharing a meal with friends and family impacts our health and how we age and fare as we get older," Meydani reminds us.

Updated: Thu Jun 23, 2016

It seems when it comes to the lingering and troubling health issues faced by many of today's combat veterans, it often takes extreme measures to remind us of our need to do more. Like summiting Mount Everest, a mission recently completed by a group of active-duty and combat-wounded service members to draw our attention to veterans struggling with PTSD and the unyieldingly high rate of military suicides in this country. Or a 2,700 mile, 155 days walkabout from Milwaukee to Los Angeles undertaken by two veterans in a public quest to heal from the debilitating effects of their combat experiences.

There is an important dimension to these extraordinary feats that also needs to be honored. It's the commitment made by these veterans to join together and share their private suffering in full public view in order to help themselves and to help others.

Tom Voss and Anthony Anderson, who made the trek to Los Angeles, each had served extensive tours of duty overseas. Like a lot of returning vets, their attempts to settle back into civilian life did not go well. Their post-military lives soon became defined by bouts of depression, anxiety, with difficulty with interpersonal relationships, and a dependence on alcohol and prescription drugs.

Updated: Thu Jun 16, 2016

According to the Census Bureau, the number of Americans 65 and older is expected to nearly double by the middle of the century. By 2050, 83.7 million Americans will be 65 or older, constituting more than a fifth of the nation's population. Yet even given the size of the number of those marching into the Golden Years, so many of us still tend to think of aging as something we do alone.

The fact that doctors tend to treat people as individuals, guided by the need to ensure patient confidentiality, can reinforce this pattern of seeing the changes and challenges aging brings on through our heads and our bodies, rather than as a shared experience.

As our numbers grow, our need to stay united in this adventure becomes a key to the quality of these years. Experts believe that maintaining social connections and having a sense of purpose in life a robust predictor of how well someone will live and thrive as they age. A 2002 study by epidemiologists at Yale found that "individuals with more positive self-perceptions of aging, measured up to 23 years earlier, lived 7.5 years longer than those with less positive perceptions."

Updated: Fri Jun 10, 2016

Major changes to nutrition labels on food packages became final last week and you can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from public health advocates across the country. You no doubt have heard about these changes, as the news got a lot of media attention.

This action marks the first significant redrawing of the nutrition information on food labels since the federal government started requiring them in the early 1990s. That big exhaled sigh I mention has to do with concerns by health advocates that many of the major elements of the new labeling would not survive powerful lobbying efforts. The celebratory atmosphere surrounding the labeling news is verification that the recommended changes presented to the Food and Drug Administration remained largely intact — most significantly the line on added sugars.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents food and beverage companies, seemed prepared to accept the new standards without complaint; the Sugar Association, not so much. In an official statement, the organization expressed its disappointment in the decision, arguing that the rule on added sugars lacked "scientific justification." Perhaps they missed the results of another survey that by coincidence was released about the same time as the food labeling announcement. You may have missed it as well.

Updated: Fri Jun 03, 2016

For our veterans to have to wait long periods of time to receive care is not only unacceptable to us, but to elected officials as well. When faced with evidence that some vets were left waiting an average of 115 days for an appointment, that veterans had died waiting for care, Congress acted. It passed the Veterans Choice act, a well-intended $10 billion program to end this problem by providing veterans a card that would let them see a non-VA doctor if they were more than 40 miles away from a VA facility or they were going to have to wait longer than 30 days for a VA provider to see them.

In an effort to end an inexcusable problem as quickly as possible, Congress gave the Veterans Administration just 90 days to set up the necessary infrastructure and build the network needed to put the program in place. With resources stretched to the max, the only solution was to outsource, so the VA went shopping. It approached 57 companies to gauge their interest in taking on this monumental task.

Only four responded. Two were eventually contracted. From the outset, the program was confusing and complicated. Veterans didn't understand it, doctors didn't understand it. Even VA administrators struggled to figure it out.

Updated: Fri May 27, 2016

Armed Forces Day on May 21, and the Memorial Day weekend that follows, is a time to honor, remember and recognize those who serve and have served our country, as well as those who have died in service. As we reflect, let's not forget the many sacrifices made at home as well in support of our men and women in uniform. In times of conflict, our citizens have always been able to rise to the challenge. Maybe no greater example of that ability is found during the onset of World War II. Through our collective will, American industry was transformed almost overnight. The automotive industry changed completely. In 1941, more than three million cars were manufactured in the United States. Only 139 more were made during the entire war as a retooled industry was soon seeing B-24 Liberator bombers come off the line every 63 minutes.

As labor and transportation shortages at home made it hard to harvest and move fruits and vegetables to market, citizens answered the call. To help the war effort, nearly 20 million Americans began planting gardens in backyards, window boxes, empty lots, parks, baseball fields, schoolyards and city rooftops. Neighbors pooled their resources, planted different varieties of needed foods and formed cooperatives to get these foods to those who needed them; all in the name of patriotism. The goal was to produce enough fresh vegetables through the summer for the immediate family and neighbors. Any excess produce was canned and preserved for the winter and early spring until next year's victory garden produce was ripe. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots is estimated to be between 9-to-10 million tons, nearly equal to all commercial production at the time. This effort is commemorated with a recreated Victory Garden located on the east lawn of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.

Victory Gardens were not a new concept in 1941. They existed during World War I. A similar concept emerged during the Great Depression. In these instances, gardens to grow food were started in answer to economic difficulties. Now, in the 21st Century, turning to home space and public land to grow Victory Gardens is being viewed as not just a response to economic difficulties, but as one of the few sure ways to healthy eating.

Updated: Fri May 20, 2016

May is "National Military Appreciation Month." Congress first designated May as National Military Appreciation Month in 1999, thanks to the efforts of Senator John McCain and others in Congress, working with more than 50 veteran service organizations to make it happen. It's a month full of events recognizing and commemorating our military, culminating with Armed Forces Day on May 21 and Memorial Day on May 30.

It was formed with a simple idea in mind — to give us, as a nation, ample time to honor, remember, and recognize those who have served and those now serving our country. As a former Airman First Class in the United States Air Force, like many veterans in America, my military experience played an important part in instilling in me a sense of character and discipline that has served me throughout my life. During my career, I have always tried to acknowledge the debt I owe to this experience, visiting soldiers at military installations and in America's veteran hospitals whenever I can. In 2007, I was given the humbling privilege of being made an honorary member of the United States Marine Corps in recognition of my visits to troops during the Iraq War.

In the many roles I have played in my acting career as military figures, I have simply drawn upon the acts of courage, large and small, I have seen in the men and women with whom I served, and the countless others I met or have come to know through the years. I welcome this opportunity to salute the service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform.

Updated: Fri May 06, 2016

I doubt if it's ever been easy to navigate one's teen years. As an extremely shy kid, it certainly wasn't easy for me. Yet when you throw in the magnifying influence of technology, it's easy to see that today's teens are facing issues of growing up in a way never experienced before. The challenges faced by peer pressure are not new, but add the impact of electronic media and the issue becomes so much larger than life. Is it any wonder that, according to one report, 11 percent of adolescents today have depressive disorder by age 18? Another 30 percent of today's teens have been involved in bullying either as a victim or as the tormenter, according to research conducted by Family First Aid. According to the 2011 National Survey of Children's Health, 31.3 percent of children in the United States between the ages of 10 and 17 are overweight or obese.

Of the 20 million new sexually transmitted diseases each year, more than half were transmitted among young people between the ages of 15 and 24 according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings. Although the high school dropout rate is decreasing, 1.2 million students still drop out of high school each year in the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

For young people that stick it out, many routinely stay up past midnight on school nights, a lot of them transfixed by new media, only to be faced with getting up at the crack of dawn in order to make it to school before the 8:00 a.m. bell. Now, a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed that there are consequences of resulting tiredness we see in young people as a result of this cycle.

Updated: Fri Apr 29, 2016

Following last week's news that the growing occurrence of diabetes has now become what the World Health Organization is calling a defining issue of concern for global public health, comes a glimmer of hope. For at least some people, adopting drastic changes in diet could be able to, by itself, reverse this disease, which is presently considered incurable.

So says a small clinical trial in England, which studied the effects of a strict 600-to- 700-calorie-a-day liquid diet on 30 overweight or obese people who had lived with Type 2 diabetes for up to 23 years. For the study, they also stopped their diabetes medications. Roughly half of those in the study group had a remission of the disease extending six months after the strict diet was over.

According to Dr. Roy Taylor, a professor at Newcastle University in England and the study's senior author, such findings could lead to a radical change in the medical community's understanding of Type 2 diabetes. "If we can get across the message that 'yes, this is a reversible disease — that you will have no more diabetes medications, no more sitting in doctors' rooms, no more excess health charges' — that is enormously motivating," Taylor tells the New York Times' Roni Caryn Rabin.

Updated: Fri Apr 22, 2016

As noted last week, global obesity has more than tripled among men and doubled among women in the past four decades. In the face of such a global health threat, equally shocking is the number of roadblocks faced in confronting the issue. Not the least of which is a constant upward spiraling cost of medication needed to treat the broad spectrum of diseases brought on by seriously excessive weight gain.

According to a new report from the Journal of the American Medical Association, we can now add to the list the cost of hormone insulin, considered one of the most important treatments for diabetes. According to the report, insulin costs climbed nearly 200 percent between 2002 and 2013. While other diabetes medications also increased in price during that period, total spending on insulin in 2013 was greater than the combined spending on all other diabetes drug treatments.

The report goes on to the say that the price of insulin is unlikely to decline due to current regulations and the cost involved with bringing comparable products to the market. This, in turn, will affect the amount of money people with diabetes pay out of pocket for treatment. It will also impact how they manage their condition. Obesity is considered the number one risk factor for type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.

Updated: Fri Apr 15, 2016

It's time we stopped beating the drum about the perils of obesity.

According to a new international study, we need to put the drum aside and start sounding a stage three alarm bell — and loudly.

According to a new study published in The Lancet medical journal, the obesity epidemic has gone global and, if that's not bad enough, it appears to be much worse than most experts thought. Seems we have transitioned from a world, not all that long ago, in which the prevalence of people being underweight was more than double that of those being obese, to a world where obesity reigns. In just four decades, global obesity has more than tripled among men and doubled among women. According to the study, more men were obese than underweight in 136 countries, and more women were obese than underweight in 165 countries. If current trends continue, 18 percent of men and 21 percent of women around the world will be obese by 2025.

Updated: Fri Apr 08, 2016

When attempting to accomplish something difficult on our own I wonder how many of us have called upon some form of the phrase "mind over matter" — at least in our heads — in our attempt to push on? It seems a fundamental frame of mind in a quest to achieve success. Renowned Texas Christian pastor and educator Chuck Swindoll once put it this way: "The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence... it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free."

Further support for this concept has now emerged from a very unlikely source — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's being applied to an equally surprising topic, the treatment of chronic back pain. Before prescribing opioids in dealing with chronic pain, doctors are now being advised to consider prescribing meditation and yoga in its place. Supporting the recommendation are a series of recent studies that found that exercise, posture training, physical therapy and yes, yoga and meditation may be a better option than pain pills, imaging or surgery for the vast majority of people trying to overcome chronic back pain.

At least eight percent of Americans suffer from chronic back pain, and it is a major cause of disability. For our medical institutions to institute a shift in treatment options away from a "medicalized," pharmaceutical approach and toward an array of nonmedical alternatives is a significant development. Joining the chorus is the American College of Physicians and American Pain Society. These organizations have also issued guidelines suggesting that doctors consider yoga and meditation therapy, along with other non-drug options such as acupuncture, massage and exercise therapy, for patients with chronic low back pain.

Updated: Fri Apr 01, 2016

There's no magic solution to the health problems in which we find ourselves in today's modern world; and seemingly no end to the obstacles we face in trying to maintain or restore good health.

The best way out of this mess is neither revolutionary nor unknown. It starts with eating right, exercising daily and getting a good night's sleep. We do this, and major health benefits can come quickly. This fact was reaffirmed by a recent study conducted by Brigham Young University, where researchers found that just 30 minutes of cardio exercise a day — such as walking — along with switching to a healthier diet dropped the health risks of its participants dramatically in as little as six weeks.

A foundation for such a program is fresh fruits and vegetables. They should make up most of what we eat. This advice is also neither new nor revolutionary. So it's sad to learn that nearly 60 percent of what Americans eat continues to be junk. More than half of all calories in the U.S. diet come from ultra-processed foods, which also contribute nearly 90 percent of all added sugars we consume. Ultra-processed foods accounts for nearly 3 out of every 5 calories we take in according to a new study conducted jointly by researchers from the University of Sao Paulo and Tufts University in Boston.

Updated: Fri Mar 25, 2016

In 2010, at the age of 51, appliance sales manager Eric O'Grey was in a bad place. He weighed 320 pounds and as a consequence was racking up more than $1,000 a month for medications to deal with his high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol. Doctors told him that if he didn't turn his life around and lose significant weight, his life expectancy was most likely no more than five years.

Then, at the advice of a doctor, he adopted a dog from a shelter. He decided on a somewhat obese middle-aged dog that he saw as not unlike himself. This dog needed to be walked at least a half-hour a day, something O'Gray did without fail. O'Grey next adopted a plant-based diet and he stuck with it. Within a year, he lost 140 pounds. His dog "Peety" lost 25 pounds. In addition, O'Grey was off his meds for good.

Peety had in fact rescued him — from an old pattern of trying to reform habits only to fall back into his unhealthful ways. "He looked at me like I was the best person on the planet," O'Grey told NPR, "and I wanted to become the person he thought I was."

Updated: Fri Mar 18, 2016

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy once provided a context to the concept of the pursuit of happiness in a 2005 lecture at the National Conference on Citizenship. Happiness, he said, is that feeling of self-worth and dignity you acquire by contributing to your community and to its civic life.

Of combat veterans returning home after serving our country, as many as 30 percent struggle with mental health issues whose symptoms often worsen once they leave the structure and comradery of military life and hospital treatment to begin reintegration back into civilian life. For these brave men and women, their mission for our country has been completed, but our mission is far from over.

As noted a couple of weeks ago in this space, in exchange for their service and sacrifice, the covenant this nation has entered with these men and women is to heal, restore and reinstate them to their proper place in our society — to realign them with their fundamental and inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness; and, where needed, to help them in every way possible to regain a sense of control over their lives. In fulfilling this responsibility, we are falling far short.

Updated: Fri Mar 11, 2016

When it comes to the food we eat, it seems our plate is never complete nowadays without a new helping of good news followed by a side of something disturbingly bad. A recent case in point comes in the form of news from Bon Appetit magazine that 2016 is shaping up to be the year of the vegetable. It looks like vegetables are now moving to the center of the plate as plants take their stand as "the new meat."

Last March, for the very first time since data has been collected by the Commerce Department, sales at restaurants and bars have surpassed those at grocery stores. Millennials — now more numerous than baby boomers — are having a huge impact on both dining out and eating trends.

The rise of vegetables is seen as the culmination of more than a decade's worth of government, consumer and environmental activists' concerns about the health consequences of our Western diet that have finally found their way into mainstream thinking.

Updated: Fri Mar 04, 2016

Though improvements are there to be seen in the treatment and care of our military suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, it's not enough. An issue is both quick diagnosis and quick and proper care for all. Anything less is a violation of the covenant this nation has entered with the men and women we send into harms way. In exchange for their service and sacrifice, we, as a nation, commit to bringing them home; to heal, restore and reinstate them to their proper place in our society. We continue to fall far short of fulfilling this duty.

I make this assessment based on a massive and unprecedented study by the RAND Corporation on the U.S. military and the Department of Veterans Affairs treatment of military cases of PTSD. It contains both good and bad news.

There have been vast improvements in how the Army and other service branches follow up with inpatient cases of PTSD within the first month following their release from hospital care. Since 2009, the military increased mental health professionals on staff by 42 percent in an effort to be more aggressive in treating service members during this initial post-hospitalization period. The RAND study examined 40,000 cases and is the largest of its kind ever conducted by the military. The results show that nearly 86 percent of those with PTSD or depression had a follow-up session with a mental health specialist within seven days after being discharged. The rate jumped to more than 95 percent for those seeing a therapist within 30 days, according to the study.

Updated: Fri Feb 26, 2016

As far as the economy goes, I'm guessing last Sunday went pretty well. I'm, of course, speaking of Valentine's Day, a day when Americans are expected to shell out around $19 billion for cards, candy, flowers and other expressions of affection for that special someone. If you don't happen to celebrate the day, that's perfectly acceptable as well. You are not alone. Nearly half of Americans — 43 percent — are not expected to have joined in on the festivities. Apparently, over the years, we've developed this love/hate thing with this annual February event.

A lot of it has to do with the stress of it. Psychologist Regina Barreca has even dubbed it as "the holiday of inadequacy" due to the strain it puts upon people to find the perfect gift for your loved one. It's not that easy. So, if you are receiving some disappointment from the object of your affection because you didn't follow up on the advice to make a bold statement with your gift purchase, but instead resorted to fall back mode and got them a box of chocolates, let me suggest a novel response — you did it for the sake of their health.

Tell them that, not only is it a pleasurable sweet treat my dear, eating these little morsels could lower your blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, help control blood sugar and decrease stress. Chocolate, I might add, is a good antioxidant.

Updated: Fri Feb 19, 2016

White coat researchers for a leading brand of sugary soft drink huddle in a laboratory for a high-powered meeting. Before the researchers, there are comprehensive files on the public reaction to more than 50 variations of a new soda flavor; each just a little different than the next. Each has been the subject of 3,000 taste tests given to potential consumers from around the country. The scientists have completed their high math analysis of the findings on each. They feed the data into a computer. In return, they receive a bell-shaped curve, which shows which variation represents the perfect amount of sweetness (neither too little, nor too much). They are confident they have now found the critical "bliss point" for their new product — the perfect amount of sweetness that will drive cravings off the chart — and in response, this new product would fly off the shelf. Welcome to the modern world of food production.

In this highly engineered world of food product development, where response to sweetness is ramped up to the maximum, the bliss point theorem is not just applied to products you expect to be sweet. Check any product on your grocery store shelf today, from bread to yogurt to pasta sauce. You will find lots of non-sweet products with a one serving amount of added sugar equal to maybe a couple of Oreo cookies. I bought a half-gallon of certified organic whole milk the other day from a reputable brand and it still contained 11 grams of added sugar, which was the lowest I could find. As for the low fat version, you don't even want to go there. Today, you will be hard pressed to find a processed product that does not have added sugar. It's as if everything on American food shelves that can be sweetened has been sweetened.

It's a trend that's been going on for so many years that nutritionists suggest it has created an expectation in people that everything we eat should be sweet. Having trouble getting the kids to embrace things like Brussels sprouts and broccoli and other natural foods that taste sour or slightly bitter? No wonder. They have grown up in a world hard-wired to sweets — the thing most parents try to ration out.

Updated: Fri Feb 12, 2016

As I pointed out last week, there's growing evidence that healthy fats — the ones found in plants, nuts and fish, known as polyunsaturated fats, are now considered a healthy — even necessary — addition to our daily diet. At the same time, while it's considered beneficial to reduce the amount of animal fats in our diet, it's no longer considered public enemy No. 1. It's not necessary to cut all saturated fat from your diet, but to merely keep track of it. The American Heart Association recommends getting no more than 5 to 6 percent of your daily calories from saturated fat. Some experts say as much as 10 percent is acceptable.

Keeping some saturated fat in your diet may be a piece of advice we should heed, because history shows that when people lower the amount of saturated fat they eat, they tend to replace it with carbohydrates and consumption of too many carbohydrates can quickly spell metabolic trouble. Calories your body doesn't need to use right away are converted into what are called "triglycerides," which are cells that are stored as fat. The more calories we lock away in fat tissue, the fewer there are circulating in the bloodstream to satisfy the body's requirements. And this is what leads me to my final word on fat — what is referred to as "deep," or visceral, fat.

I am not talking about the normal pounds that tend to park themselves around the midsection as we age — the kind you can pinch between your fingers. This is known as subcutaneous fat, which is relatively easily addressed with diet and exercise.

Updated: Fri Feb 05, 2016

All this week, there is a scientific meeting of the minds taking place online, dedicated to the function of fat in our diet — and it's not too late to join in, free of charge. Called the Fat Summit, it is a project created by family physician and New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Mark Hyman, as a prelude to his latest book, "Eat Fat, Get Thin," to be released in February. Both the Summit and book come on the heels of new U.S. Dietary Advisory Committee recommendations to remove previous limits on fat in diet and recent news that dietary fat can support weight loss, improve brain function, help to prevent dementia, and even reverse the effects of type 2 diabetes.

Though this is not necessarily an endorsement of the event and I have no affiliation with it, the participants represent more than 30 of the sharpest medical and clinical minds around sharing their thoughts on subjects from losing weight to reversing chronic disease.

The Fat Summit is further evidence of how expert thinking has shifted on a once closed-book subject and how more and more above-the-belt blows are being landed to the no fat, low fat movement. To set the table for this new line of discussion, I present the following as an introduction to new thinking on fat.

Updated: Fri Jan 29, 2016

It's estimated that hundreds of thousands of Americans are exposed to potentially serious brain injuries every year; they often don't know it nor do their doctors. It's shocking that this state of affairs continues to be possible, given the level of attention that is continually paid in the media to the consequences and causes of head injuries. "Concussion" is even the title and subject of a major motion picture, another flash point for public and clinical discussion and debate on what to do to properly address the problem.

Much of the discourse regarding head injuries in recent years centers on football players and combat troops — and rightly so. Putting U.S. troops in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan has left hundreds of thousands of America's finest with permanent and debilitating effects of head injuries. Yet, in many of those cases, the shock waves our soldiers have been exposed to have resulted in microscopic damage that's been hard or often impossible for medical professionals to detect. In 2015, a Johns Hopkins-led research team studying the autopsies of combat veterans who survived IEDs and later died of other causes reveal a distinct pattern of injuries in parts of the brain involved in decision making, memory, reasoning and other decision-making functions. Exactly how many combat veterans are impaired in these areas is hard to measure. Many never seek treatment or are misdiagnosed.

Complicating the problem is the fact that no two brain injuries are exactly the same. Combat injuries are different from the football concussions in which blows to the head damage the brain's electrical wiring. A pattern that seems common to both is that, even with all the attention being given to head injuries to football players, its unknown exactly how many players end up with permanent debilitating symptoms because of head injuries. Not everyone who hits their head repeatedly develops brain disease. Still, common sense tells us that it is better for athletes to absorb fewer knocks to the head. Health professionals presently have no way of identifying people at a higher risk of developing brain disease from such contact.

Updated: Fri Jan 22, 2016

Anyone who's managed to reach that rarified plateau known as old age should never feel as if they're no longer important in the grander scheme of things. Yet ageism, the discrimination against people based on age, sadly is a real problem in our modern society. But it's certainly not one when it comes to researchers at the leading-edge of medicine; quite the contrary. Those folks are absolutely obsessed with senior citizens and just itching to know exactly what makes them tick — as in that internal clock inside our bodies that set a rhythm as to when we wake and when we go to sleep; that even influences thoughts and feelings.

It may be somewhat amusing — or annoying — to family members when folks of a certain age take a little catnap in the middle of the day or rise early in the morning, or suffer through a "senior moment" in trying to recall some name or piece of information. To a neuroscientist or geneticist, these behaviors are all clues to be explored, for our seniors are the key in a quest to understand exactly which genetic, environmental and behavioral factors contribute to a long life.

It all starts with what is called the circadian clock. Neuroscientists have long struggled to understand exactly how the circadian clock, this internal master controller found inside our genetic makeup, affects our minds. What's known is that people's circadian cycles change as they age. This internal clock changes rhythms and shifts forward. Some of the genes that were active in strong daily cycles in young people fade in people older than 60. Is it possible that some older adults stop producing proteins in their brains needed to maintain circadian rhythms, wondered University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine neuroscientist Colleen A. McClung.

Updated: Fri Jan 15, 2016

A New Year's toast to you and yours, and I wish you health and happiness in the months ahead. As we begin this journey into 2016, it's worth mentioning that if your drink of choice happens to contain alcohol, that's not only acceptable for adults, but a toast to good health may be in order. It seems there's a growing amount of scientific evidence telling us that moderate alcohol consumption can be considered a safe practice for many — and even potentially beneficial.

Researchers have suspected as much for a while now. One 1990 study tracked more than 275,000 men beginning in 1959, comparing those who never drank alcohol with those who consumed one to two drinks a day. The results at the end of the study revealed that the moderate drinkers had a significantly reduced mortality rate from coronary heart disease, as well as "all causes." Another analysis of that randomized control trial published this year shows alcohol intake to be associated with a small but significant decrease in blood pressure. Moderate consumption has also been associated with decreased rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

This is not meant to encourage consumption or to suggest that alcohol is harmless. Many people with certain diseases or disorders — and especially women who are pregnant — definitely need to avoid it.

Updated: Fri Jan 01, 2016

Merry Christmas! I hope you're having an enjoyable and blessed holiday season in this once a year time, with its distinctive and stimulating sights, smells and sounds. In this season, music is everywhere, and music, like our other senses, has the ability to lift our spirits and transport our thoughts to another place or time. I'm sure that all of us can think of songs that, when we hear them, immediately trigger an emotional thought that is positive or negative and seeped in meaning. It doesn't have to necessarily be associated with the holidays or holiday music.

I have one in mind for this holiday season that is not a traditional holiday tune, though it does have everything to do with gift giving. I'll have more on this later.

We have a deep connection to music that is not always scientifically understood. According to Barbara Else, senior adviser of policy and research at the American Music Therapy Association, it's hardwired in our brains and bodies.

Updated: Fri Dec 25, 2015

The proclamation couldn't have been any clearer or the source more credible: "We are a nation of walkers."

The statement, you may be surprised to learn, has no relation to the zombie apocalypse as seen on the most popular show on television. If it did, surely it would have been seen as more newsworthy and you would have heard about it by now. They are words spoken by our surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, delivered in a keynote address at the second National Walking Summit, held this past October in Washington, D.C.

The focus of the summit was the concept of walkable communities, and Murthy's appeal to representatives from 44 states centered on the need to improve infrastructure in communities to make walking easier; about making sure that "everyone in America has a good shot at being healthy."

Updated: Fri Dec 18, 2015

As we close in on the end of another year, many of us find ourselves in the process of taking stock of both the blessings in our lives as well as those behaviors we'd really like to change. I'm speaking of the thinking process that leads us to the most challenging of annual proclamations, the New Year's resolution. Regardless of whether we formalize the process of resolving to change come the first of January, it's only natural for our minds to go to that place at this time of year. From ancient Babylonians and Romans to medieval knights, making pledges to improve behavior and amend mistakes on at least an annual basis has become common practice.

As we get older and look back, it's easy for us to see a path littered with resolve that didn't quite play out. We can take at least some comfort in knowing that the inability to follow through on New Year's resolutions is a fairly typical American trait. According to one 2014 poll by the University of Scranton psychology department, a good majority of people, 71 percent of participants to be exact, were able to hold to their annual promises for the first two weeks. Six months later, less than 50 percent of those surveyed had been able to hold on to their resolutions.

Why do we break these promises we feel so compelled to make?

Updated: Fri Dec 11, 2015

I suspect that few people would argue with the statement that pollution of the air that we breathe has an impact on health. What you may be surprised to learn is that according to the World Health Organization, particulate matter found in air pollution contributes to approximately 7 million premature deaths each year, a figure equating to 1 in 8 deaths globally.

The seriousness of this situation was further driven home to me by the recent announcement of a nationwide study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The study is the first to find links between particulate exposure and negative health effects in women with diabetes. The study links exposure to air pollution with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women with diabetes.

Even in an advanced country such as ours, where pollution standards continue to be developed to protect us, we are all still at risk of negative health effects caused by air pollution.

Updated: Fri Dec 04, 2015

Given the increasing number of people now clamoring for better quality food, we may finally be reaching a tipping point. Major food producers actually appear to be starting to change their ways for the better. Demand for products with "natural" and "organic" labels continues to grow — each having increased in sales by more than 24 percent during the past two years, according to a Nielsen survey. Of those who believe that organic products are important, more than one-third of respondents to the same survey say that they are willing to pay a premium. Nearly half of those people considered natural ingredients and GMO-free food very important.

The Food and Drug Administration has reportedly cleared the way for Massachusetts-based AquaBounty Technologies to market a man-made breed of salmon to the public, making it the first genetically engineered animal approved for food sale in this country. The FDA noted in its announcement that because of these genetic modifications, the new variety of salmon "meets the definition of a drug." The term is not reserved to chemical substance.

While genetically modified fruits and vegetables have been sold in this country for more than 20 years, the FDA has a mandatory premarket approval process for genetically engineered animals. This is why this decision is being seen as a possible game changer in the world of GMOs. According to some estimates, at least 35 other species of genetically engineered fish, chickens, pigs and cows are currently under some level of development. It is feared that the FDA's decision on salmon may set a precedent that could make approval for other genetically modified animal species easier.

Updated: Fri Nov 27, 2015

When an entire day is dedicated to a cause, we generally think of it as a celebratory event. However, when the World Health Organization claims a day to recognize a cause, it is to alert us that we have a significant worldwide health issue. So along with World Malaria Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Hepatitis Day and World AIDS Day, we now have World Diabetes Day on November 14.

It is understandable to have missed it, given the tragic terrorist attacks in Paris that have occurred. My hope is that there is still time to consider World Diabetes Day — not as a story that has passed, but one that remains before us. There is substantial reason to take the diabetes epidemic seriously.

Diabetes is a disease that affects more than 350 million people in the world. According to the International Diabetes Federation, somewhere in the world, an adult dies from diabetes every six seconds — a frequency greater than the mortality rate of HIV, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. In 2012 alone, diabetes was the direct cause of nearly 1.5 million deaths. The latest statistics from the 2015 Diabetes Atlas show the disease is on the rise.

Updated: Fri Nov 20, 2015

New research analyzing 26 studies conducted in Europe, involving 150,278 people, is further proof that there is definitely something to the notion of a connection between food and mood.

The new study was published in the current issue of the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health and found that people who consumed the most fish had a 17 percent lower risk of depression than those who ate the least amount of fish. Researchers concede that other factors could also be at play. High fish consumption may be associated with a healthier overall diet and better nutritional status. This could also contribute to the lowered risk of depression.

Yet, as previous research has shown, omega-3 fatty acids in fish is believed to alter the structure of brain cell membranes. Other fatty acids in fish modify the activity of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin — which are thought to be chemicals of the brain involved in depression. In turn, adding more fish to your diet is worth considering.

Updated: Fri Nov 13, 2015

Last week, we looked at the sleeping habits of three study groups whose lifestyles roughly match up with the discovered living conditions of the Paleolithic period. What were these people doing while they were awake, you might ask? Like ancient tribes, they were hunting, gathering and eating a version of the Mediterranean diet — a diet rich in fish and vegetables. Of the members of the study groups, virtually none suffer from obesity and many live long lives. They also have no problems sleeping.

It stands to reason that a good diet may have something to do with these positive results. Now, a recent study by Columbia University published in the journal Neurology is taking it a bit further than that. Their findings suggest that a Mediterranean diet may improve brain health. They claim that having fish regularly, eating little meat, and consuming vegetables, legumes and nuts is good for your brain. People who follow such a diet slow down the aging process. Their eating habits may help forestall shrinkage of the brain for as long as five years; something that happens as we age and can lead to dementia.

However, not all experts agree.

Updated: Fri Oct 30, 2015

Some people may be a bit tired of reading about all the negative impacts associated with not getting a good night's sleep. Well, rest assured that there is at least one new study suggesting our prehistoric ancestors didn't get any more shut-eye than today's sleep deprived masses.

The study, released by researchers at UCLA's Semel Institute of Neuroscience and Human Behavior and published by the scientific journal, Current Biology, submits that people may be meant to sleep as little as 6 1/2 hours nightly, similar to our hunter-gatherer ancestors from the Paleolithic period. They base this notion on their study of three different hunter-gatherer groups located in Africa and South America, whose lifestyle roughly matches up with that of our ancestors.

The researches studied the sleep patterns of these groups for more than 1,100 days and nights, and revealed surprising similarity in their sleeping habits. In these traditional societies, people go to sleep several hours after sunset and usually wake up before sunrise. The study groups have virtually no obesity. Many live long lives and hardly anyone has difficulty sleeping.

Updated: Fri Oct 23, 2015

A Texas-size problem in my neck of the woods found its way to the national spotlight last week. A couple of years ago, Houston was saddled with a title it certainly didn't want: America's fattest city. A 2013 federal study revealed that nearly two-thirds of Houstonians were overweight or obese. In addition, it was found that 11 percent of this seriously overweight population had been told by a doctor they have diabetes. Approximately 22 percent lived in poverty and 23 percent lacked health insurance. Beyond these numbers, only 15 percent of Houston-area adults reported eating the recommended five or more fruits and vegetables a day, according to a recent report in USA Today. Less than 20 percent said they met federal exercise guidelines.

The city has been moving aggressively in the past few years to shake this disagreeable title. Three years ago, city officials launched a program called "Go Healthy Houston." The goal was to ensure that residents throughout the metropolitan area had better access to healthful foods, physical activity, and tobacco-free zones. These steps were seen as necessary in order to improve the city's health.

The program came to light last week as the central topic of a local forum sponsored by USA Today and the global health services organization, Cigna. One part of the program is focused on Go Healthy Houston working in partnership with the city and the community organization, CAN DO Houston, trying to get fresh fruits and vegetables, healthful beverages and healthful snacks onto convenience store shelves. This effort is being done in connection with an educational program through which healthful foods can be sampled and free cooking demonstrations are performed. To create more options for exercise, this year the city opened its first protected bike lane in the heart of downtown.

Updated: Fri Oct 16, 2015

Are you on the lookout for a new, natural food to add to your daily diet that's amazingly tasty? Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, has a recommendation you might want to consider.

"I consider good goat cheese, great bread and fine wine about the best culinary combination the planet has ever devised," he says. "This is not a health food! But then again, pleasure is good for health, and as an occasional treat for those who love it, goat cheese is very pleasurable stuff."

And it's not all that bad. A 1-ounce serving has 75 calories and 6 grams of fat — somewhat less than other soft cheese. Goat cheese also provides 5 grams of protein and 40 milligrams of calcium, along with about 3 percent of your daily iron recommendation. Some experts also believe that goat cheese increases absorption of iron and improves bone formation. In some instances, goat cheese can serve as a substitute product for people allergic to cow's milk. That's because of its unique protein structure. Recognized as one of the world's earliest man-made dairy products, this culinary delight we are being asked to "discover," has been with us for thousands of years.

Updated: Fri Oct 09, 2015

According to neuroscientist Gordon M. Shepherd, in our brain, a french fry is identified as nearly perfect food. Potatoes are naturally sweet, but the french fry is also salty. Then there's the contrast of its crispy exterior and its warm, soft interior. Last, but not least, is its golden brown appearance. Now combine that with the savory fat of a burger and the carbonated sweetness of a soda and we immediately move into sensory eating overload.

Shepherd says the combination of these particular foods sets off a series of events in our brains. There's not much fiber in the meal, so we don't feel full while wolfing it down. The interplay among all these flavors constantly triggers a renewed interest in eating. It's all part of our daily trip through the "human brain flavor system." Shepherd and his colleagues are exploring how this complex process works and the chain reaction it puts in motion. It has led to a new field of study, called neurogastronomy, also the title of his book on the subject.

Traditionally, it has been believed that taste is what happens inside our mouths when we eat and drink. The study of neurogastronomy is finding that scores of other stimuli work in concert to create our experience — such as sound, scent and visual presentation of food — and that these experiences are as influential in how we experience food as taste. It is believed that learning how to tune the cerebral response more favorably to healthful foods might ultimately lead us all to healthier eating and healthier lives. Neurogastronomy also holds promise for managing disease, as researchers work to understand how a cancer patient's sense of taste changes during treatment and investigate how this insight might be used in creating satisfying diets for diabetics.

Updated: Fri Oct 02, 2015