Do You Know Your Numbers?

 

In the United States, nearly half of everyone over age 18 (48%) has hypertension. For Americans over age 60 that rises to 75%. Of those who are hypertensive, only 1 in 4 have it under control and 41% of women and 51% of men are completely unaware of their condition because they were never diagnosed. Hypertension significantly increases the risk of heart, brain and kidney diseases, and is one of the top causes of death and disease throughout the world.

Although hypertension easily diagnosed and treatment is usually very effective, the death rate from high blood pressure increased by nearly 11 percent in the United States between 2005 and 2015, and the actual number of deaths rose by almost 38 percent — up to nearly 79,000 - in the same period.

Blood pressure is determined by measuring the systolic and diastolic blood pressures.

• Systolic blood pressure, the top number, measures the force the heart exerts on the walls of the arteries each time it beats.
• Diastolic blood pressure, the bottom number, measures the force the heart exerts on the walls of the arteries in between beats.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association divide blood pressure into four general categories.

                                Normal                               Up to  120/80
                                Elevated                             Up to  130/80
                                Stage 1 Hypertension        Up to  140/90
                                Stage 2 Hypertension        Above 140/90

Do you know your numbers? You should.

Read more about it here.

                                

If Sugar Is So Bad, Why Is Fruit Good?

 

Unless you have managed to successfully ignore information about food and nutrition almost completely, you have heard by now about the many problems that a diet too rich in sugar is blamed for. A powerful inflammatory agent, among the many health problems in which sugar is implicated include weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver disease, dental cavities, cancers, cognition issues, kidney disease and heart disease. That's quite a rap sheet.

At the same time, we tire of hearing that we "need to eat more fruits and vegetables".

But wait, aren't most fruits filled with sugar? Isn't all sugar just... sugar?

It turns out that there is a huge difference between the naturally occurring sugar found in fruits and added sugars. The primary sugar in fruit is fructose, which some refer to as fruit sugar. Fruits also contain water, fiber, and several other beneficial phytonutrients, making them an optimal choice to include in a balanced and healthy eating style.

Processed forms of sugar include such common additives as table sugar, honey, and high fructose corn syrup. These sugar types are often consumed as the sugar added to soda, candy, and sweetened baked goods. At a minimum, you should consume these added sugars in moderation, but ideally, they should barely be consumed, if at all!

Yes, fruits contain sugar, but this sugar is different from refined added sugar. Refined added sugars lack the multiple health promoting qualities of fruits provided by the presence of naturally occurring phenols, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. So there is no good reason to exclude them from your diet.

Read about the details here.

 

The Key to Success (and Failure)

 

Whether it is keeping your New Year's resolutions, getting to the gym 4 days a week, staying with that new meal plan, getting to bed earlier so that you can get up earlier or making those Sunday night family phone calls, consistency can make all the difference. Whether you want to accomplish something important to you, form a new habit or get rid of an old one, consistency (along with determination) will either put you over the goal line or sink you long before you get there.

Most of us struggle with consistency, primarily because staying the same is so very much easier than changing (especially for us older folks). The power of our habits, even those we don't particularly like, is hard to overestimate. Consistent effort, much more-so than massive effort, is often the key to progress.

But what to do if we struggle to be consistent? Here are five research backed principles that can help you.

https://bit.ly/42LDsrw

How Much Water Do I Really Need to Drink Every Day?

 

The average person has a body that is composed of about 60% water (not 90% as is often incorrectly asserted). All that water does a lot more than just sit there sloshing around. Water is crucial for many reasons: to regulate body temperature, keep joints lubricated, prevent infections, deliver nutrients to cells, and keep organs functioning properly. Being well-hydrated also improves sleep quality, cognition, and mood.

You body doesn't just hold onto its water though. Quite the opposite. It is constantly expelling it through urination, respiration, digestion and perspiration. When the body loses more water than it takes in, we become dehydrated. As you might imagine this can become quite serious if not remedied. Among the symptoms of dehydration are headache, delirium, confusion, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, high heart rate with low blood pressure, muscle cramps, chills, constipation, confusion and anxiety. Quite a list. 

A person can survive as long as 2 months without food. But without water only 3 or 4 days.

As you can see, getting enough water to stay hydrated is pretty important. But how much do you need, exactly?

The popular wisdom is that we all need eight cups of water every day for optimal health. But there’s no evidence to suggest that consistently drinking eight glasses of water a day is needed

The reality is that each person’s water intake needs vary, and depends on a number of factors, including your age, how much exercise you get, the weather conditions where you are, what you eat, and other health conditions you might have. Taking all these factors into account, the purported eight glasses a day just doesn’t work for most people. 

So how much do you need to take in every day? The answer is surprisingly simple. Here it is.

 

Aging is Society's Problem Too

 

 

For many of us, growing older is a personal issue. An issue for us and our families to sort through and deal with. But the fact is that, globally, aging populations are a demographic time bomb that is mostly being ignored by nations and societies. The world is experiencing a seismic demographic shift—and no country is immune to the consequences

By 2050, there will be 10 billion people on earth, compared to 7.7 billion today—and many of them will be living longer. Much longer. As a result, the number of elderly people per 100 working-age people will nearly triple—from 20 in 1980, to 58 in 2060. That's right. There will be nearly 3 times more elderly people for those young, working age people to support as there are now. Globally, the working-age population will see a 10% decrease by 2060. It will fall the most drastically, by 35% or more, in Greece, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.

There are many other social and economic changes that we can come to expect as the global population continues to age, including:

• With more people claiming pension benefits but less people paying income taxes, the shrinking workforce may be forced to pay higher and higher taxes. How long will they be willing to do so?
  
• As we have discussed before, longer lives do not necessarily mean healthier lives, with those over 65 more likely to have at least one chronic disease and require expensive, long-term care. Where will that money come from?
• Changing workforces may lead capital to flow away from rapidly aging countries to younger countries, shifting the global distribution of economic power. Standards of living will rise in a few places, such as India, but decline in many others.
  
• The strain on pension systems is perhaps the most evident sign of a drastically aging population. Although the average retirement age is gradually increasing in many countries, people are saving insufficiently for their increased life span—resulting in an estimated $400 trillion deficit by 2050. Who will pay for that?
  
• A pension is promised, but not necessarily guaranteed. Any changes made to existing government programs can alter the lives of future retirees entirely—but effective pension reforms that lessen the growing deficit are politically risky and so mostly ignored. How long can it be ignored?
  

Societies will have to divert a larger and larger share of national income to support a growing population of retirees. Many are already far along this path. Figures released by the United Nations Population Division show that Asia is at the forefront of this trend with Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan expected to have the highest share at roughly 40 percent of their populations aged 65 and older by 2050. But Western Europe and North America are not far behind.

What does a world with billions of elderly people look like? Here is a preview.

 

When is Food Unsafe to Eat?

 

Best if used by. Use before. Sell by. Expires on. Fresh until. Born on. Guaranteed fresh until. Freeze by. Best if used before.

Consumer uncertainty about the meaning of the dates that appear on the labels of packaged foods is believed to contribute to about 20 percent of food waste in the home. “Imagine this: You go to your favorite supermarket and come out with three bags full of groceries. Before you get in your car, you toss one of those bags in the garbage. Sound ridiculous? Of course it does, but that’s in essence what food waste looks like every day across our country,” says Frank Yiannas, the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response.

Date labels are generally not required on packaged foods. While manufacturers are prohibited from placing false or misleading information on a label, they are not required to obtain agency approval of the voluntary quality-based date labels they use or specify how they arrived at the date they’ve applied. Manufacturers generally apply date labels at their own discretion and for a variety of reasons. The most common is to inform consumers and retailers of the date up to which they can expect the food to retain its desired quality and flavor.

To help dispel this confusion, the FDA is supporting the food industry's efforts to standardize the use of the term “Best if Used By” on its packaged-food labeling if the date is simply related to optimal quality — not safety. Studies have shown that this best conveys to consumers that these products do not have to be discarded after the date if they are stored properly.

Is your confusion dispelled? 

Here is some practical advice from Jill Roberts, a food safety researcher and associate professor of global health at the University of South Florida.

Basically, if it isn't moldy and doesn't smell bad, its probably fine.

Why is Dental Care not Healthcare?

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and prevention, about one-quarter of Americans 65 and older have lost all of their teeth. One-third have untreated tooth decay, even though poor dental health is linked to heart problems and other health concerns seniors already face, such as diabetes. Almost 8,000 people in the United States die of oral and pharyngeal cancers every year, most of them elderly. But the problem is not limited to seniors. Children from lower-income families are twice as likely to have tooth decay

The bottom line is that although healthy teeth are essential for good overall health, they have never really been considered a part of the body by many insurers and third-party payers. Even though the links between oral health and numerous other conditions such as heart disease, pneumonia and fetal health are well known, more than 180 million Americans never visit a dentist.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought health insurance coverage to millions of people who had never had it before. Not only did the sweeping changes put an end to exclusions for pre-existing conditions, but healthcare reform also designated 10 “essential benefits” that insurers must include in their plans, such as treatment for mental health problems and drug and alcohol abuse.

The idea was to provide coverage for things that could improve a person’s overall health at a relatively low cost. The theory? Keep people healthy by taking care of small problems before they become big, expensive ones.

The partition between dental and medical makes little sense given that “oral health is directly related to general health,” says Dr. Garry Glassman, an endodontist based in Toronto, Canada who also practices in the U.S. “The oral cavity is a gateway to your body. A lot of stuff in the mouth can indicate kidney disease, heart disease, diabetes, HPV, cancer, etc. Your dentist can be your first line of defense.”

Even if you do have dental insurance it is likely restricted to only certain procedures and carries an absurdly low annual payout cap - often $1,200. So why does something as basic as dental care continue to take a back seat, even with the new emphasis on preventive medicine?

The answer, apparently, is "because that is how it has always been".

Despite it being a plainly medical issue, until the 1800s, dentistry was the domain of barbershops, practiced in the same chair and usually by the same guy who shaved your beard. It’s so bizarre and frightful an image that it’s almost comical, but the history of our teeth and jaws being treated as something as incidental as our hair and nails still haunts us.

Meanwhile, millions of non-wealthy people continue to suffer the genuine agony and negative health consequences of bad teeth. Read more here.