It seems that family behaviors can have a significant impact on preschool children, helping them maintain a normal weight, and perhaps delivering other benefits as well.

The three habits?

- Sit down to dinner together as a family five or more nights each week.

- Be sure children get enough (10.5 hours a night at this age) sleep.

- Limit time in front of the TV or game system to less than two hours a day.

“Four-year-olds who regularly ate dinner with the family, got enough sleep and watched less than two hours of TV a day were 40% less likely to be obese,” points out study lead author, Sarah Anderson, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health at Ohio State University.

Since there are so few easy, effective treatments for childhood obesity, preventing it in the first place must get special emphasis. Childhood obesity isn’t something to brush of; it’s a serious medical condition that gets kids started on a path to health problems (high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol) once only seen in adults.

The research included a nationally representative sample of 8,550 four year olds along with one parent per child who answered questions about family routine and behavior. In children, obesity is determined by the BMI being greater than the 95th percentile when compared to others of the same age and gender. The group of children in this study had an 18% obesity rate.

Only 14.5% of the children were regularly exposed to all three of the at home behaviors, and the obesity rate for this group was 14.3%. For those kids who were exposed to none of the three, the obesity rate shot up to 24.5%. Researchers were able to link each behavior to a 17% reduction in the rate of obesity.

These results held even after the team controlled for things that might impact a child’s risk of being obese. These included obesity of the mother, race, gender, socioeconomic status and living in a single parent household.

The results show an association between the three behaviors and obesity rates, but the study was not designed to demonstrate cause and effect. “We don’t know if it’s the routines per se, or if it’s the parenting associated with these routines or something else correlated with these routines, but we do know these routines are associated with a lower incidence of obesity,” continues Anderson.

The good news for parents is that all three of the behaviors are pretty simple – things you can do in your own home, in your own way, to help your children. Not only will you be denying childhood obesity a hold on your child, you’ll also be taking part in activities that have been shown to aid behavior and cognitive development.

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3 Home Habits to Stay Slim Continued…

Even if you can’t manage making all three steps part of your family routine, Anderson says that introducing at least one can have a positive impact. Or do one as much as possible for your lifestyle and schedule.

As a parent, you will need to make these behaviors a priority… perhaps limiting the number of activities or changing your own routine to make it work. You might start by trying the one behavior you think you’ll be able to do most easily and watch the results. If you’re already doing one (or more) of these, try adding another.

Young children aren’t the only ones who can be encouraged to get their weight under control, as shown by another study set to appear in the same March 2010 issue of Pediatrics.

This work involved 81 obese teen girls enrolled in the Duke University Healthy Lifestyles Program who were randomly assigned to read an intervention novel about an obese heroine who learns about eating right, being active and thus improving her self esteem, or a control novel.

The girls who read the intervention novel were more likely to reduce their BMI percentile than those who read the control book, or a third group of subjects who didn’t read anything.

Age appropriate fiction that addresses healthy behaviors might have potential as a supplement to a weight management program.

So parents, grandparents and others… if you’re worried about childhood obesity, there are simple steps you can take to make a difference… starting tonight.

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The research involved an analysis of data collected on 60,524 Chinese adults and looked at the role sweetened carbonated drinks and juices play in the development in this type of cancer in Asians. Earlier work has previously looked at the effect on Americans and Europeans.

The participants came from the Singapore Chinese Health Study that collected data on diet, physical activity and medical history among other things.

Those who drank two or more carbonated sodas (diet sodas and sports drinks were not included in the work) a week tended to be younger men who smoked, drank alcohol, ate calorie laden foods and were less active overall. These participants also ate more red meat, causing the researchers to adjust for dietary factors such as this.

“But the adjustments did not change the link between soda and the risk of pancreas cancer,” explains study author Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota’s division of epidemiology and community health. “We suspect sugar is the culprit, but we cannot prove it from this study,”

Generally a serving of carbonated soda is 20 ounces and has 65 grams of sugar. As a comparison, a typical serving of a fruit juice, like orange juice, is 8 ounces and has 21 grams of sugar. Quite a difference.

Carbonated drinks are the leading sources of added sugar in the US diet, contributing to both high blood sugar and hyperinsulinemia (a higher than normal amount of insulin in the blood).

The pancreas is a gland deep in the abdomen (between the stomach and spine), surrounded by other vital organs like the liver and intestines. This pear-shaped gland is about 6 inches long and produces insulin (and other hormones) that help to regulate blood sugar.

This organ, like others in the body, can develop cancer though the causes remain unknown. It’s most common in smokers and those who are obese, with risk increasing as you age. This form of cancer is slightly more common in women than in men.

Tragically, 95% of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer won’t be alive in 5 years.

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This Increases Risk Of Pancreatic Cancer Continued…

When it comes to treatment, the picture is bleak – usually by the time this cancer is found, its quite advanced and has had time to spread to nearby organs.

In about 80% of cases the tumor cannot be removed, leaving chemotherapy and radiation as the most likely recommendations to shrink the size of the growth and prolong survival.

If the findings of this most recent study are confirmed by future work, this could provide a solid, sensible way to prevent a dangerous, deadly form of cancer.

Limiting these sweetened drinks as well as eating lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, exercising regularly and quitting smoking are all changes you can make to reduce your risk. In the case of pancreatic cancer, prevention is always the best, safest option.

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Following a Mediterranean style diet helps lower the risk of developing small areas of dead tissue that have been linked to thinking problems. Doctor’s call these brain infarcts, and cite them as involved in vascular dementia, the second most common form of disease after Alzheimer’s disease. The Mayo Clinic puts the numbers with vascular dementia at between 1-4% of those over 65.

The risks for vascular disease are similar to Alzheimer’s disease and include high blood pressure, a high fat diet, type 2 diabetes and low folate intake. In this latest study the subjects had never had a clinical stroke, but might have had smaller, unnoticed ones. MRI brain scans can detect such small strokes.

The study ties diet to stroke, and will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April 2010. The subjects were 712 New Yorkers over the age of 65 who were asked about their diet and then six years later underwent an MRI. Dr. Nikolaos Scarmeas, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center, says that dietary patterns tend to remain consistent for at least seven to eight years.

Researchers found that those who most closely followed a Mediterranean style diet were 36% less likely to have areas of brain damage, compared with those whose eating habits were least like the diet.

When the researchers controlled for high blood pressure, the Mediterranean diet was still tied to a lower risk of brain damage. It could be this way of eating helps to protect the brain vessels themselves, without regard to other problems like hypertension Scarmeas says.

The researchers also looked at the individual components of the Mediterranean diet to see if one could be identified as especially beneficial. They found a stronger association between eating the whole diet and brain damage prevention than with any single food in the diet. It might just be that the combination of all the elements, including fish oil, may be producing the positive effect on the brain.

When it came to strokes, the subjects who followed the diet plan the least had an increased risk of strokes that was similar to those with high blood pressure. Those who stuck to the Mediterranean diet regimen had a level of protection that was similar to those who didn’t have hypertension. Other studies have suggested that this eating style might help in preventing a second heart attack, stopping the need for diabetes drugs and lowering cancer risk.

It’s important to understand that the results of the work show association, not causation, which tells us that there could be other factors linking the Mediterranean diet to resistance to this type of brain damage. Other research has shown that the more subjects stick to the diet, the better protection against hypertension they get, and this is also associated with these brain problems.

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Mediterranean Diet For Healthy Brain Continued…

The Mediterranean diet isn’t so much a diet plan as a way of eating for life, and is nothing like the typical American diet. The Mediterranean diet is:

- Very low in red meat and poultry

- Uses olive oil as the main fat source

- Very high in fruits, nuts, legumes, vegetables and cereals

- High in fish

- Permits low to moderate intake of wine

Future work will need to confirm whether subjects must follow the entire Mediterranean diet, or if there are parts that bring about the positive effects. Identifying specific foods might make changing the way we eat easier – adjustments could be centered on adding one or two elements to our current diet, rather than trying to reshape a lifetime pattern of eating.

Still, no matter what the experts end up concluding; we are seeing clearly that what you put into your body (good or bad) does indeed have an impact on both body and mind.

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Try a glass of blueberry juice and you’ll be giving your brain a boost says a new study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

According to the groundbreaking research, a daily drink of wild blueberry juice improved the memory of older subjects who were known to have memory problems related to age.

Experts have long believed that what we eat and drink has an impact on thinking capacity, but this is the first work to show the benefit of a food like blueberries in helping the memory of older people who are already at risk for dementia.

While some lapses in memory or slowing down of thinking are a normal part of getting older, significant memory loss is not.

Surprisingly, the brain is able to produce new cells at any age, and can be trained or learn new things at any age. What we often put down to forgetfulness is more accurately a slowing down of the brain’s ability to absorb, store and retrieve new information.

“The findings of this preliminary study suggest that moderate-term blueberry supplementation can confer neurocognitive benefit,” says researcher Robert Krikorian, of the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center.

A group of participants in their 70s who had signs of age related memory decline drank almost two and a half cups of commercially available blueberry juice each day, while a control group of subjects drank a berry flavored, non-juice beverage in similar amounts. The study lasted two months

The team conducted memory tests, like word associations and word list recall, at both the start and end of the study period.

The results? Those who drank the blueberry juice had significant improvement in learning and memory tests compared to the demographically matched sample that drank the non-juice beverage.

The blueberry juice drinkers also reported fewer symptoms of depression and had lower glucose levels. More work will be done to confirm these details, but the benefits of the blueberries on memory seem pretty clear.

Blueberries, beyond being tasty, have a great deal of phytochemicals, known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects on the body.

Earlier studies on animals have found that polyphenols in blueberries (known as anthocyanins) have increased signaling in brain centers linked to memory. They also aid the brain in getting rid of glucose.

Beyond what you eat, there are other things you can do to keep your mind sharp as you age. Exercise regularly as this brings more oxygen to your brain. Eat a healthy diet with fruits (including blueberries), veggies, whole grains and healthy fats.

Stress can be a terrible drain on your mind, so you’ll need to do all you can to manage the stress in your life. Be sure you get a good night’s sleep, and if you’re not, take steps to improve your sleep habits.

Lastly, don’t smoke, as this increases the risk of vascular disorders that can cause stroke or constrict arteries that bring oxygen to the brain.

If you find you’re already forgetting more than you’d like, here things you can do…

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Battle “Senior Moments” With Blueberries Continued…

- Use notes or checklists to keep yourself organized.

- Put important appointments/dates in a planner, calendar or electronic organizer.

- Put things you use all the time in the same spot every time.

- Write down the steps for complex, or difficult to remember tasks.

- Use an alarm clock or timer to help you remember when to leave or do something.

- Rely on maps, GPS systems, or family and friends to help get yourself from point A to point B.

- Learn new things faster by listening closely when someone talks, repeat back the information, focus on one thing at a time and try to have your session in quiet, distraction free places.

- Do mental exercise – play strategy games, try crossword or number puzzles, read newspapers and magazines that challenge you, learn new things like games, recipes or driving routes, take a course in a subject you don’t know or try a project that calls for design and planning.

- Social interaction aids the brain by challenging the mind and helping to ease stress or symptoms of depression brought on by isolation.

Remember, to a great extent, keeping your brain healthy and sharp in the years to come is within your control. All you have to do is get started.

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Less salt is as big a benefit to health as is quitting smoking, according to work that appears in the January 20, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

“The [heart] benefits of reduced salt intake are on par with the benefits of population-wide reductions in tobacco use, obesity, and cholesterol levels,” explains Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD. Limiting your daily salt intake by half a teaspoon (3 grams) isn’t enough of a reduction to bring many diets to the 3.7 grams a day that’s the recommendation for about 70% of adults, or the 5.8 grams a day suggested for high risk adults.

In fact, the average U.S. man gets 10.4 grams of salt a day; the average U.S. woman gets about 7.3 grams a day.

Some of the biggest reductions in dietary sodium would need to come from food makers who would have to stop adding so much to processed foods.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that 77% of the salt in our diet comes from these types of foods. Surprisingly, the salt shaker accounts for just 6% of our daily intake, while salt used in cooking accounts for a mere 5% of intake.

Would we miss the salt if it were removed? “In the United Kingdom, a population-wide reduction in dietary salt of 10% was achieved in four years without a reduction in sales of the food products included in the initial effort and without consumer complaints about taste,” Bibbins-Domingo and her colleagues point out.

Another plus, once you cut back on the salt (even if you don’t know you’re doing so) this encourages you to prefer less salty foods. The change in your taste for salt comes in just a few weeks.

In an editorial published along with the study, Johns Hopkins researcher Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH and Cheryl A.M. Anderson, PhD, MPH call for more regulations.

Of course such restrictions would certainly be opposed by industry, as we’ve seen with the effort by New York City to regulate sale in prepared foods. Opposition to the measure comes from the Salt Institute, a trade group that represents the industry.

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Cutting Salt Could Prevent Deaths Continued…

Representative for the salt industry aren’t convinced that the moderate reduction in blood pressure from cutting salt is worth the risks to health that come from depriving our bodies of this natural, necessary nutrient used for many thousands of years.

Morton Satin, speaking for the Salt Institute says, “Mediterranean diet consumers, such as the Italians, consume 40% more salt than Americans, but because they eat a balanced diet with plenty of salads and vegetables, they have the best cardiovascular figures in the world. I’m concerned that the reduction in salt in canned vegetables could lead to less vegetables being consumed. This would be harmful to consumers, especially children.”

Making the change, even cutting just 1 gram of salt from your diet, would have quite an impact on the health of many of us according to the researchers.

If you have risk factors for early death or heart problems, limiting your salt intake could be a very smart move and natural too. What’s more, you don’t need to do anything beyond making the change in your salt intake to get the benefit to your health.

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It’s not the same for women.

Earlier research had examined coffee and tea drinking habits and obesity, but not much is known about what beverage we choose and how this contributes to the weight we carry around the belly.

This latest study involved 3,823 adults who were part of the 2003-04 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a program of studies created to assess the health and nutrition of adults and children in the U.S. The unique thing about this survey is that it combines interviews and physical exams.

The researchers found that coffee drinking wasn’t related to abdominal obesity in either men or women, even after adjusting for other risk factors. Using sugar instead of artificial sweeteners did appear to have a role in fat in this area.

In men, the use of sugar in tea was linked to a nearly 1 inch smaller waistline – the use of artificial sweeteners was associated to a nearly 2 inch larger waist measurement. In women, using milk in tea was linked to a 2/3-inch smaller waistline – but those who used artificial sweeteners had a 1-inch larger, on average, waist measurement.

“The potential association between coffee/tea and abdominal obesity is not trivial considering that more than 60% of the adult population drinks coffee/tea, that these beverages can be consumed as frequently as 10 times per day, and that a high percentage of coffee and tea drinkers use additives in these beverages,” explains D. R. Bouchard of the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

Fat at the waistline, beyond making you look and feel bad, has also been tied to more than a few serious health risks, conditions like heart disease and diabetes, as well as high blood pressure, sleep apnea, some cancers and degenerative diseases like arthritis and spondylosis.

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Tea Helps Trim Waistline Continued…

Known to your doctor as visceral fat, fat in this area has been shown to be more biologically active, bringing on inflammation and affecting the liver. Worse yet, large belly fat cells release more toxins and waste products that can get tucked in between internal organs, turning on the immune system.

The link between tea drinking and a slim waist calls for more study. In the meantime, men especially might benefit from replacing a cup (or two) of coffee with tea, or adding tea to your beverage intake and watching what happens to your waistline.

You might also want to up your intake of unprocessed, natural foods and make sure you’re getting regular exercise to make a more serious dent in any fat you’re carrying around the middle.

Remember too that in the end, it doesn’t matter where your fat is located – carrying more than you should is not good for your heart.

You should take steps to reduce the demands you’re placing on this very vital organ by giving your body good for you nutrients and also making healthier lifestyle choices.

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While no one food is going to magically make you invincible in terms of getting sick – moderation and balance in good foods are important when it comes to living healthier.

Everyone agrees that eating well, drinking in moderation and staying active all lead to a healthier body.

Start by adding a little bit of any (or all) of these healthy foods to your diet.

1. Dietary fiber

That means eating oats, barley and rye to as part of your diet. Doctors know that oats can bring down cholesterol, and rye can do the same. In a study in the current issue of Nutrition, Finnish researchers found that eating dense rye bread lowered borderline high cholesterol in men. The American Diabetes Association also suggests upping your dietary fiber to prevent type 2 diabetes – rye lowers cholesterol and evens out blood glucose levels for diabetics.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found diets high in barley lowered total cholesterol levels and cut the risk factors that are linked to extra weight – type 2 diabetes and heart disease being the two biggest. Barley can be cooked and eaten as a side dish just like potatoes or rice, or used in soups, stews, casseroles or salads. Rather than buying regular rye bread, buy rye mixed with whole wheat, found in dense, whole grain breads and specially made crackers.

Long story short, expert Dr. Peter Shields, professor of medicine and oncology and deputy director of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center, says any diet with fiber (from fruits, veggies or grains) is good for your body.

2. Soy

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that foods rich in soy proteins may cut the risk of coronary heart disease – 25 grams of soy protein a day can reduce heart problems by lowering cholesterol. You’ll find soy in lots of things – tofu burgers, soy meats and milk. When introduced to children soy can have a very strong protective effect against breast and prostate cancers. It also helps in the fight against childhood obesity and has vitamins, minerals, fiber and protein.

3. Salmon and other oily fish

“Wild salmon is a wonderful dish that’s not only tasty but is great for you,” explains Katherine Tallmadge, national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a registered dietitian in Washington, D.C. “It cuts inflammation in the body that can lead to heart problems. It’s a good source of vitamin D and also contains omega-3 fatty acids that keep the brain and heart healthy.”

The American Heart Association suggests we eat oily fish two times a week. This type of fish has omega-3 fatty acids (known to be beneficial for heart disease, triglyceride levels and the growth rate of atherosclerotic plaque) as well as being one of the few food sources of vitamin D. A 3.5 ounce fillet of cooked salmon has 360 IUs of the vitamin, almost a full days supply for anyone under 70 years old.

Still there is a note of caution – some oily fish (swordfish and fresh cuts of tuna) might be contaminated with mercury. This heavy metal is known to interfere with the brain and nervous system – high levels can cause serious problems for pregnant women and children.

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5 Foods For Improved Health Continued…

4. Red wine

While nutritionally red wine might be a perfect drink, it does have alcohol, which means you need to drink it in moderation – that’s about 5 ounces a day for women, 10 ounces a day for men. If you drink wine for heath, stick to red because red grapes have 10 times more health benefits than white grapes do. While your own doctor (and others) might hesitate to recommend an alcoholic beverage to patients, most agree that red wine is okay in moderation.

The antioxidants in red wine known as polyphenols help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart. Resveratrol, one of the antioxidants is a key ingredient in red wine that seems to protect blood vessels from damage, reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and prevent blood clots. There is some current research that shows this antioxidant may cut inflammation and blood clotting both which can bring on cardiovascular disease.

There have been studies linking any alcohol, including wine, to increases in the risks of breast cancer. A recently published study found that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol does raise the risk of a breast cancer recurrence.

5. Green tea

Another drink that’s loaded with antioxidants, green tea is believed to be able to ward off some cancers. Japanese work involving nearly 500 women with stage I and II breast cancer found that those who drank more green tea, before and after surgery, had a lower rate of cancer recurrence. Chinese studies have found that the more green tea patients drank, the lower the risk for stomach, esophageal, prostate, pancreatic and colorectal cancer compared to those who didn’t drink the tea.

Green tea has also been shown to keep you leaner by helping to lower body fat. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that green tea extract increased energy expenditure, a measure of metabolism. It also had a significant effect on fat oxidation, which is how much fat your body actually burns.

But you need to drink more than a cup or two, at least three to six cups a day. Plus how you make the tea counts – you need to use bags or loose tea – you can’t just buy a bottle of iced green tea and get the benefit, the tea must be brewed.

It’s also important to understand that a lot of the research on green tea’s benefits has been done on animals. And though this is an accepted way to conduct research, the data on humans isn’t there to back up the claims. That’s why you won’t see such claims on green tea products, the FDA believes there’s not enough human evidence to support them.

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The work identifies a group of phytochemicals known as ellagitannins, abundant in pomegranates, that inhibit the growth of estrogen responsive breast cancers in the lab.

The researchers believe the ellagitannins in pomegranates work by inhibiting a key enzyme (known as aromatase) the body uses to make estrogen, which is suspected of a role in breast cancer growth.

“Phytochemicals suppress estrogen production that prevents the proliferation of breast cancer cells and the growth of estrogen-responsive tumors,” explains researcher Shiuan Chen, PhD, director of the Division of Tumor Cell Biology and co-leader of the Breast Cancer Research Program at City of Hope in Duarte, California.

For this work, the researchers examined the impact of 10 ellagitannin-derived compounds from pomegranates on hormone activity and breast cancer cell growth. The results showed that of the ten compounds, urolithins B most significantly inhibited the growth of the breast cancer cells in the laboratory testing.

The results are promising, though more work will be needed to see if eating or drinking pomegranate-derived products will have any effect in people.

Pomegranates have gotten a lot of attention recently – becoming one of the most talked about “superfoods” out there because of both the heart healthy and anti-cancer benefits.

This latest work is the first to look at breast cancer growth, and we’ll likely hear of other studies as the year 2009 saw no fewer than 20 clinical trials registered with the National Institutes of Health to look at pomegranate consumption on many diseases.

If you’re concerned about your cancer risk, or just want to take advantage of the potential health benefits, consider making pomegranates a regular part of your diet – Even at the risk of pink hands, a juice splattered shirt and the effort needed to enjoy the fruit. If you’ve never tried one, pomegranates have a unique, very pleasant flavor. You can eat the seeds themselves, or add them to salads, meats, or other grain pilaf dishes, even deserts.

If you have the option between the fruit and its juice form, always try to choose the fruit, as it has natural fiber as well as antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.

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Pomegranates Stop Growth Of Breast Cancer Continued…

You can buy the fruit in juice form, though it can be expensive and comes with more than its share of calories.

Often it’s easy to drink a lot more calories than you realize, so watch your portion sizes and keep your intake to 1.5 ounces of the juice.

If the taste is too strong for you, try mixing it with mineral or seltzer water, or with blueberry or cranberry juice for a super rich antioxidant drink.

It’s also a great addition to your favorite smoothie recipe, or mix it with plain yogurt or cottage cheese. There are even pudding recipes out there that are delicious and healthy too.

There are stores where you can buy pomegranate paste that’s made with molasses. This lends itself to glazes, dips and salad dressing recipes.

No matter what form you choose, enjoying delicious, good for you pomegranates might be one of the best, most natural ways to give your body healthy nutrients and perhaps women might also protect themselves from cancer.

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Baby bottles, water bottles, sports equipment, medical and dental devices, dental fillings and sealants, lenses in glasses, CDs and DVDs and electronics in the home all have BPA’s.

The chemical is also used in the coatings of almost all food and beverage cans. What’s worse, more than 90% of American have detectable levels of BPA in their bodies, and some estimates suggest the amount of BPA used in the U.S. is equal to about 6 pounds per person, per year.

Back in 2008 the FDA issued a draft assessment that assured us BPA was safe. Only a short time later the National Toxicology Program disagreed and voiced “some concern” that BPA exposure during pregnancy or infancy might be troublesome for long-term health. Official agreement that there is reason for concern over fetus/infant exposure to BPA has just come from the FDA.

What are the worries over BPA?

Experts believe that there are key periods of development when exposure to BPA may lead to certain health effects – behavioral effects, diabetes, reproductive disorders, development of certain cancers, asthma and heart disease that can pass from one generation to the next.

Two earlier National Institutes of Health studies focused on the effects on development and reproduction. The research didn’t look at effects in adults, which is why the NIH officially has “negligible concern” over adult risk of exposure from BPA.

In a news conference in mid January 2010, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, MD, announced the change, and the beginning of a BPA research program costing $30 million, at a news conference. “At this time, we share the perspective of the NTP of some concern of health effects of BPA. This means we need to know more,” Hamburg said. “In the interim, as a precaution, the FDA is taking reasonable steps to help reduce human exposure to BPA.”

This does not mean BPA is banned, or that BPA-containing products are unsafe. Today the FDA is seeking greater regulatory powers to track and control the use of the chemical in industry.

The regulations in place today date from the 1960s, and allow manufacturers to use BPA without telling the agency they are doing so.

At present, the FDA believes the risk of BPA exposure from canned formula is far less than the risks that come from feeding a baby less nourishing food.

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FDA Has Concerns About PBA, But Bans Yet Continued…

What to do if you’re the parent of an infant or toddler concerned about BPA?

- Breastfeed infants for at least a year, if this isn’t possible, iron-fortified infant formula is a safe, nutritious option.

- Inspect your baby bottles or sippy cups for scratches and throw them away.

- Don’t put boiling water in BPA plastic bottles, and mix powdered formula with water boiled in a BPA-free container cooled to lukewarm.

- Warm baby formula by running warm water over the outside of the bottle as opposed to microwaving.

- Be sure bottles or cups are labeled “microwave safe” and “dishwasher safe” before putting them into these appliances.

The American Chemistry Council, a plastic industry group, is disappointed by the FDA recommendations, saying in a statement, “Plastics made with BPA contribute safety and convenience to our daily lives because of their durability, clarity, and shatter resistance.

Can liners and food-storage containers made with BPA are essential components to helping protect the safety of packaged foods and preserving products from spoilage and contamination.”

Also good to know, the six largest manufacturers of baby bottles (about 90% of the U.S. market) are now making bottles without BPA.

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Earlier work has shown that patients with heart disease who have a high intake of omega-3s have higher survival rates, and this new study sought to explain why this might be.

“We’ve shown an entirely new effect of omega-3 fatty acids, which may be to slow down the biological aging process in patients with coronary heart disease,” explains lead author Ramin Farzaneh-Far, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco.

Farzaneh-Far and the team looked at a marker of biological age – shortening of telomeres, the structures at the end of a chromosome that are involved with its replication and stability.

Experts believe that as telomeres shorten, the eventual result is the death of the cell. In earlier work by the team, the telomere length of heart disease patients was a powerful predictor of death and bad outcomes. The shorter the telomeres, the greater risk of death.

For the study, the researchers evaluated 608 outpatients in California who had stable heart disease and had been recruited from the Heart and Soul Study.

At the start of the study and at the five-year point, blood samples were taken and evaluated for omega-3 fatty acid levels. DNA from the blood allowed researchers to look at the length of the telomere of the leukocyte, a type of blood cell. The subjects were followed up until January 2009.

“Patients with the lowest blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids exhibited a rate of telomere shortening 2.6 times faster than patients with the highest levels of omega-3 fatty acids,” Farzaneh-Far tells online medical resource WebMD. And while no one has enough information to convert telomere length to years of aging, experts suspect omega-3 might be one of many influences on the length of telomeres – others being inflammation, obesity, oxidative stress and lack of activity.

Would lots of omega-3s in the blood help a patient with heart disease? Experts can’t say for sure.

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Omega-3s Slow Aging Continued…

There was no association between omega-3 fatty acid levels and telomere length back in September 2000 and December 2002 when the study began. But by the end of the follow up period the team saw the higher the blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the subjects, the slower the rate of telomere shortening.

Of course this is exciting news, demonstrating how sources of omega-3s work at a cellular level. One day your doctor might even be able to conduct a test that examines your telomere length with an eye to predicting your risk of heart disease.

Whether you’re a heart disease patient or not, this research might have you wondering what to do about omega-3s?

The American heart Association recommends a gram a day of omega-3 fatty acid for those who do have heart disease. Look for natural dietary sources like oily fish (salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna) or supplements.

If you don’t have heart disease, the AHA suggests you eat a variety of fish at least two times a week, as well as trying to add more healthy oils like canola, soybean and flaxseed to your cooking.

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