Jaxy of All Trades

Research has shown that bodies lacking vitamin D have more than double the risk of dying from heart disease than their vitamin D-rich counterparts. One reason for the lack of vitamin D in their system could be from lack of outdoor activity.

Wait! – Isn't Being Outdoors Without Sunscreen Unhealthy?

If you plan on spending long amounts of time outside, then yes, it is recommended that you use sunscreen to protect your skin. But, spending a short amount of time outside when the ultraviolet (UV) index is less than 3 does not warrant slathering sunscreen on.

When your body is exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays, it starts to make vitamin D. It is recommended that you get between five minutes to a half-hour of unprotected exposure to the sun twice every week to get a healthy dose of this vitamin. Any more time than that warrants putting on sunscreen.

Note that driving your car on a sunny day does not make vitamin D, as UV radiation does not penetrate glass. So even though you feel hot while on a mid-day cruise, you are not going to burn, tan, or make vitamin D.

Other Sources of Vitamin D

Since UVB rays are less intense during the winter, it can be difficult to make sufficient vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D can be found in many different foods and is fortified in milk and some breakfast cereals. Oily fish, like tuna and salmon, also contain this important vitamin. If you tend not to consume these foods, taking a daily supplement may be a wise choice.

Vitamin D – What Is It Good For?

Absolutely nothing! Vitamin D is very important as it is necessary for the absorption of calcium into the body. Vitamin D deficiency can cause bone problems, like like osteomalacia and rickets, in the future.

Do you use the sun as a main source of vitamin D? Do you use this as an excuse to skip sun protection?

Resources:

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/living-well-usn/2008/06/23/time-in-the-sun-how-much-is-needed-for-vitamin-d.html

http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/sunlight.htm

http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/168/11/1174

If the voluntary recall of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough didn't keep you from sticking your finger into raw batter, perhaps this article will shed some light on why eating unbaked cookie dough is not such a good idea.

What About Nestle?

This June, concerns over E. coli contamination rapidly resulted in the removal of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough from supermarket shelves. At least 72 people reported getting sick, most saying that they had eaten raw cookie dough. Although a package from a manufacturing plant in Virginia was contaminated with E. coli, it was not the same variant that caused people to get sick. Nestle said that no E. coli was found at their Virginia plant.

In August, the refrigerated cookie dough started making a comeback with a new label stating, "Do not consume raw cookie dough." The new label also makes it easy to recognize the new batch of cookie dough, with the new batch donning a blue "New Batch" label.

What About Homemade Dough?

People are urged not to eat homemade raw cookie dough either. Unlike pre-made raw cookie dough, homemade dough contains uncooked eggs. Raw eggs have the possibility of containing salmonella, which can cause serious stomach illnesses. Although the chance of an egg containing salmonella is low (approximately 1 in 20,000), it is still a risk. Cooking the eggs kills the salmonella bacteria, making raw cookie dough into a harmless, homemade cookie.

If you refuse to keep your finger out of raw cookie batter, there is hope for you to continue in a safer way. Using pasteurized eggs can eliminate your risk of salmonella poisoning. Pasteurized eggs are heated to a temperature at which any bacteria remaining on the eggs is killed. Even though pasteurized eggs are heated, they are considered uncooked.

What Is Salmonella?

Salmonella is a disease-causing agent that can be transmitted to humans via animals or food. It can live outside of a living body for weeks and cannot be destroyed by freezing. The only way to kill salmonella is to heat it for ten minutes at 75 degrees Celsius.

Is the risk of contracting an illness from salmonella small enough for you to eat raw cookie dough anymore? Do you think that the new label on Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough will keep people from eating it raw? Would you consider using pasteurized eggs as an alternative to unpasteurized eggs?

Resources:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/08/nestle-cookie-dough-warning-.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a.HbTIIsuUyE

http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/fttmilk.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/is-it-dangerous-to-eat-raw-cookie-dough.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmonella

Image: http://floof.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/cookiedough.jpg

Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, was considered to be a healthy carrier of typhoid fever, the first case in the United States. Known for consistently denying that she was spreading the disease, Mary worked as a cook in New York City for years and transferred the disease to many people before she was quarantined.

The Story

Mary Mallon was born in Ireland in 1869 and immigrated to the United States in 1884. She worked as a chef from 1900 to 1907, causing fifty-three people to become infected and three to die before she was quarantined the first time. She was quarantined for three years at a hospital on North Brother Island. In 1910, she was released after she promised that she would no longer work as a cook and work harder to prevent spreading the disease.

After her release, Mary was given a job as a laundress, which paid less than what she could get as a cook. She returned to her occupation as a cook under the pseudonym Mary Brown. In 1915, twenty-five people were infected and one person died as a result of her cooking at New York's Sloane Hospital for Women. After this outbreak, Mary was tracked down and arrested. She remained quarantined until she died on November 11, 1938.

It is often theorized that she was born with the disease, because her mother had typhoid fever while she was pregnant with Mary. Since Mary never went through an episode with typhoid fever, this is the most likely reason for her ability to spread the disease.

Defining Typhoid Fever & Healthy Carrier

Typhoid fever is usually contracted after ingesting contaminated food. Since this particular disease cannot be contracted by animals, a human had to be the culprit.

A healthy carrier is someone who can spread the disease while still being healthy. Human carriers of typhoid fever are generally people who have survived an experience of typhoid fever, but still have typhoid bacteria surviving without experiencing further symptoms. These people are otherwise healthy, but continue to excrete the bacteria. Vigorous scrubbing with soap and hot water is essential to remove the bacteria from the hands.

Other Notable Healthy Typhoid Carriers

Typhoid Mary has become a generic term to describe a healthy person carrying a dangerous disease. There have been other healthy typhoid carriers including Tony Labella, an Italian immigrant who contaminated one-hundred people and caused five deaths. And another, an Adirondack guide often referred to as Typhoid John, infected thirty-six people and caused 36 deaths.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoid_fever

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asymptomatic_carrier

Most often an accessory to movie theaters, popcorn may be harboring a secret that makes it a healthy snack. A new study reports that popcorn is a good source of fiber and antioxidants.

Hold the Butter…

Popcorn is only as good for you as the stuff you add to it. If it is loaded with butter and salt, it becomes increasingly unhealthy. Most microwaveable popcorn contains butter and salt additives to make it taste good, and that makes it bad for you. In this case, the cons outweigh the pros. If you pick microwaveable popcorn that has minimal additives to it, it is considered a healthy of fiber.

Movie theater popcorn is no better for you either. Consider that a combination of bacon, eggs, a big mac, fries, and steak dinner contains less fat than a medium-sized butter popcorn from a typical movie theater. Regal Cinema Group, the largest theater chain in the United States, makes a small popcorn that contains a whopping 29g of saturated fat. This is equal to a day-and-a-half of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat and approximately three big macs.

Popcorn Can Be Healthy

The antioxidants in popcorn are protected from the sun in the drying process. A minute amount of antioxidants are lost when it is popped and the fiber from the whole grain is not removed. The healthiest popcorn is air-popped with a minimal amount of salt.

Popcorn is one snack that is filling, but takes longer to eat a voluminous amount. The fiber content in popcorn helps you to get fuller in the same amount of time that it would take to consume many more calories in chips.

Some Obstacles

Unfortunately, plain popcorn is bland and is often referenced as having a cardboard-like taste. In order to combat that, companies add food additives to make it taste better, which makes finding healthy options for popcorn difficult unless you air-pop the kernels at home.

It doesn't seem like popcorn manufacturers have made a decent effort to create a healthy-yet-tasty version of popcorn. There are 100-calorie versions aimed at people paying attention to their midsection, but they are just altered portion sizes.

Do you enjoy lightly or unsalted popcorn? Do you think that the taste of plain popcorn is feasible enough to obtain the health benefits from it?

Resources:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/WellnessNews/story?id=8356993

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popcorn

On October 24, 2009, President Obama declared the swine flu a national emergency as there have been outbreaks in 46 of 50 states. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that the H1N1 virus has killed more than 1000 people in the United States and forced more than 20,000 hospitalizations. While the seasonal flu usually targets people over the age of 65, the swine flu is hitting young adults and children the hardest.

Types of the Vaccine

There are two different types of vaccines: a shot and a nasal spray (also referred to as LAIV). The H1N1 vaccine contains dead viruses and has a few side effects: soreness, swelling or redness at the injection site, a low fever, aches, and nausea. Usually, these symptoms occur soon after the shot is administered and only last for one-to-two days.

The LAIV nasal spray contains weakened viruses and can cause different side effects based on age. For adults, the side effects are runny nose, sore throat, cough, and headache. Children have more possible side effects, including running nose, wheezing, headache, vomiting, muscle aches, and fever.

What is Thimerosal?

Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative used in multi-dose vials of vaccinations to prevent contamination after the vials have been opened. Since contamination of vaccines by germs can cause serious illness or even death, this preservative is deemed necessary for multi-dose vials. None of the LAIV nasal sprays contain thimerosal as they are all produced in single doses. There are also some H1N1 vaccines that do not contain thimerosal.

Who Is Recommended to Get the H1N1 Vaccine?

It is strongly suggested that some people get the vaccine based upon their age or health conditions. Any healthy people from birth to 24 years old are recommended to get the shot as well as adults between the ages of 25 and 64 if there is an underlying medical condition. It is also suggested that pregnant women receive the vaccine. The swine flu seems to be having the most serious impact on these types of people.

Fewer vaccines have gotten to doctors than initially predicted. Because of manufacturing delays, the optimistic 40-million vaccines that were expected to reach the hands of doctors by the end of October has dwindled down to thirty million. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll asked 1,038 Americans if they thought the swine flu vaccine was safe. Notably, 49% of people said that they thought it was safe while 43% percent said it was not (margin of error was +/- 3%).

Do you plan on getting the H1N1 vaccine, and do you think it is safe?

Resources:

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_safety_qa.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/thimerosal_qa.htm

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/24/h1n1.vaccine.where/

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN24139386