According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, protein chemicals in pollen that cause seasonal allergies are also in certain raw foods. For example, ragwood pollen is related to chemicals in cantaloupe, banana, sunflower seeds, zucchini and cucumber. Grass pollen is related to peaches, celery, melons, tomatoes and oranges. When these foods are eaten, the body’s immune system responds as if it were ingesting pollen. Unlike seasonal allergies, oral allergy is year-round; and although reactions to it are usually limited to the lips and mouth, for one-third of seasonal allergy sufferers it’s nothing to sneeze at.
According to new guidelines issued in July 2008 by the American Academy of Pediatrics, children at risk for high cholesterol and heart disease should be screened; and it was recommended children be given cholesterol-lowering drugs. The concern about millions of children taking statin drugs with limited testing on children set off a controversy. However, far fewer children may need these drugs than predicted. A new study of the cholesterol levels of more than 2,700 youths ages 12 to 17 found less than 1% met AAP guidelines for drug treatment. Instead, a change in diet and increased exercise was recommended – a new look at an old solution.
According to a report published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, greater exposure to TV during teenage years increases the risk of depression in young adulthood – especially among males. The 4,100 healthy adolescents in the study reported an average of 5.68 hours a day of media exposure, of which 2.3 hours were TV. When the participants were screened 7 years later, 7.4% had developed depression. According to the report, the teens had a significantly greater likelihood of developing depression for each hour of TV watched per day. Regarding depression, TV seems to be part of the big picture.
According to a study done at the University of Munster in Germany, older adults who decrease their calories increase their memory. Women ages 50 to 80 who reduced their caloric intake by 30% for 3 months increased their scores on verbal memory tests by 20%. It seems the calorie reduction caused these women to be more sensitive to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin and also have a drop in the inflammation-associated molecule C-reactive protein – both of which have been linked to improvement in brain function. That the calorie reduction also provided the benefit of weight loss was a no-brainer.
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