Tips For Health

New research shows that women who regularly use pain relief medications, particularly aspirin, have a decreased risk of serous ovarian cancer—an aggressive carcinoma affecting the surface of the ovary. The study published in Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, a journal of the Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology, reports that non-aspirin non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), paracetamol (acetaminophen), or other analgesics did not decrease ovarian cancer risk.

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecological malignancy and the fifth-leading cause of death by cancer for women in developed countries. Previous studies report that Denmark has one of the highest incidence and mortality rates at 11 and 7 per 100,000 women, respectively. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year 20,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, with 90% of cases occurring in women older than 40 years of age and the greatest number in those 60 years or older.

"Ovarian cancer has a high mortality. Understanding what factors are involved in the development of this disease and investigating preventative interventions for women are vitally important," said lead author Dr. Susanne Kjær with the Danish Cancer Society Research Center. "Our study examined the role of analgesics in development of ovarian cancer."

For the present study, researchers used data from the malignant ovarian cancer (MALOVA) study, a population-based, case-control study investigating this cancer in Danish women between 1995 and 1999. The team analyzed data from 756 women with epithelial ovarian cancer, classified by type of glandular tumors (adenocarcinomas); 447 were serous, 138 were mucinous, and 171 were other types. A random sample of 1564 women between the ages of 35 and 79 were drawn from the general population as controls. Personal interviews were conducted to determine analgesic drug use.

Findings indicate that women taking aspirin on a regular basis decreased their risk of serous ovarian cancer (odds ratio, OR=.60). Researchers did not find a decrease in ovarian cancer risk in women who regularly used non-aspirin NSAIDs, acetaminophen, or other types of pain relievers.

Dr. Kjær concludes, "Our findings suggest a potential protective effect of analgesic use on ovarian cancer risk, but that benefit should be balanced against adverse effects of pain medication use, such as risk of bleeding and peptic ulcers." The authors recommend that larger studies, which accurately assess dosage, frequency and duration of pain medications, are necessary to understand the impact of analgesic use on ovarian cancer.

In his editorial, also published in this months issue, Dr. Magnus Westgren from Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden concurs with the study authors that strategies for preventing ovarian cancer are imperative. Dr. Westgren discusses preventive procedures such as bilateral salingectomy (BSE)—a removal of the fallopian tubes—in women at risk for ovarian cancer.

"If we informed women about the possibility of performing BSE at repeat cesarean section for ovarian cancer prevention, it is likely that many women would opt for this procedure," writes Dr. Westgren. He suggests that gynecology professionals discuss changing policies and setting up randomized trials to further understand how BSE could reduce ovarian cancer risk.

High levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as the "good cholesterol," are thought to protect against heart disease. However, what’s good for one disease may not be good for another. High levels of HDL have also been linked to increased breast cancer risks and to enhanced cancer aggressiveness in animal experiments. Now, a team of researchers led by Philippe Frank, Ph.D., a cancer biologist in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Thomas Jefferson University, has shown that an HDL receptor found on breast cancer cells may be responsible for this effect, proposing a new molecular target that could help treat the disease.

"If we can block the activity of the HDL receptor in breast cancer, we may be able to limit the harmful effects of HDL, while maintaining levels that are beneficial for blood vessels," says Dr. Frank. The work was published online September 24th in the journal Breast Cancer Research.

To study the effect of HDL on cancer cells at the molecular level, Dr. Frank and colleagues exposed breast cancer cell lines to HDL and noticed that signaling pathways involved in cancer progression were activated, and that the cells began to migrate in an experimental model mimicking metastasis.

The researchers then limited the expression of the HDL receptor called SR-BI in the cells using silencing RNA to reduce the receptor’s levels. In response, the activities of the signaling pathways that promote tumor progression were reduced. In addition, cells with fewer SR-BI receptors displayed reduced proliferation rates and migratory abilities than cells with normal SR-BI levels. Most importantly, reduced SR-BI levels were associated with reduced tumor formation in a mouse model of tumorigenesis. The researchers then blocked the SR-BI receptor in a breast cancer cell line with a drug called BLT-1 and noticed reduced proliferation and signaling via proteins linked to tumor formation.

This study supports the idea that HDL plays a role in the development of aggressive breast cancers and that inhibiting its function via SR-BI in breast cancer cells may stall cancer growth.

Additional studies will be needed to develop more specific drugs to inhibit SR-BI. "Also, we need to understand what levels of cholesterol are required by the tumor before trying to reduce or modify lipid levels in cancer patients," says Dr. Frank. “We hope this study will lead to the development of new drugs targeting SR-BI or cholesterol metabolism and eventually preventing tumor progression,” he adds.

Critique 096: Frequency of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors: implications for drinking guidelines 20 November 2012

Read the full critique here: http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum/critique-096-frequency-of-alcohol-consumption-and-cardiovascular-risk-factors-implications-for-drinking-guidelines-20-november-2012/

The purpose of this paper was to examine whether drinkers who consume lower-risk amounts on more frequent occasions have favourable risk factor profiles compared with those who drink more per occasion but less frequently. The authors also discuss implications for the larger debate about the limitations of non-randomized studies about moderate drinking and the development of low-risk drinking guidelines. As stated by the authors, "many observational studies suggest that increased drinking frequency is associated with reduced mortality among those with low-dose alcohol consumption." Indeed, previous epidemiologic research has clearly shown that the healthiest outcomes occur among regular, moderate drinkers who do not binge drink. Further, almost all studies have adjusted for a large number of socio-economic factors that are known to be potentially confounding factors for evaluating the association of alcohol consumption with health outcomes.

As expected, the present study shows that regular drinkers tend to consume less alcohol per occasion, and are less likely to binge drink. Further, such individuals tend to have better socio-economic status and lower levels of most cardiovascular risk factors. Most previous researchers have interpreted the better educational status and economic levels of moderate drinkers to be important causes of their more moderate lifestyle factors (including avoiding abusive drinking). Further, most previous research, including many basic science interventions and limited trials in humans, have shown that the administration (intake) of moderate amounts of an alcoholic beverage leads to more favourable cardiovascular risk factors, and numerous mechanisms have been identified (higher HDL-cholesterol, improved vascular reactivity, improved platelet and other coagulation factors, etc.).

The authors of this paper take an unusual turn when it comes to discussing the implications of their results. They tend to down-play any potential health benefits that may be caused by alcohol or the pattern of drinking and infer instead that the favourable risk factors themselves may lead to the drinking pattern. Forum members disagreed with the implications of the authors on a number of factors: (1) the lack of randomized trials of low-dose alcohol consumption; (2) levels of evidence; (3) drinking frequency and alcohol intake; (4) clustering of lifestyle behaviours; (5) alcohol consumption and CVD-related biomarkers; (6) alcohol intake, cancer and total mortality. Further, Forum reviewers cite a large body of scientific research that utes some of the conclusions of the authors, which imply that regular moderate alcohol intake does not relate to improved cardiovascular risk factors.

Forum reviewers agree with a concluding statement of the authors about using caution before recommending drinking to the general public. However, they believe that the arguments presented in this paper are not based on a balanced appraisal of available scientific data, and should not be used to support changes in guidelines for the public.

Penn States mascot goes on the prowl for a good wellness program

Listen to this NPR report and its easy to conclude that another employer-based health promotion program has gone amok. Reporter Jeff Brady implies rising health care costs have led Penn State University to force its employees into an intrusive wellness initiative, pitting David-like faculty members against the Goliath-Administration.

What can wellness architects and service providers learn from this imbroglio?

Heres the facts:

Penn State provides health benefits to over 45,000 employees and dependents. Its self-insured (administered by Highmark), which means the University, not some remote insurer, is on the hook for any unanticipated health care costs. 

Those costs have led to a whopping $217 million health care budget for 2013-2014 and a long term $3 billion pension liability. In response to the threat of budgetary "crowd out," the University made some important changes to the insurance benefit that included a high deductible option and value-based benefits.

It also hatched a health promotion initiative. It checked in with the Faculty Benefits Committee in the early spring of 2013 and then used the summer to unveil a "comprehensive wellness-focused strategy."  This included the "Take Care of Your Health" program that packaged biometric screening (some labs, weight blood pressure), an on-line WebMD wellness survey and preventive health exam. Failure to complete that screening, survey and exam will result in a $100 per month payroll deduction in 2014.

The plan didnt sit well with everyone. Faculty members Matthew Woessner fretted about privacy and penned a "call for action and civil resistance," Barry Ickes doubted the economics and Larry Backer invoked eugenics, human dignity and sinister profit-motives.  Brian Curran used the Change.Org website to post an anti-wellness petition for "employees, alumni and friends" that has reached 2000 signatories.  Naturally, wellness gadflies Vik Khanna and Al Lewis were unable to resist and used The Health Care Blog to pile on any wellness program with the temerity to not use their consulting services.

The Disease Management Care Blog speculates on lessons learned......

While worksite wellness programs have a reputation for increasing employee morale, it stands to reason for that any stressed organization (and heres why that may be true here), it runs both ways: low employee morale can hinder acceptance of a wellness program. The faculty backlash may be as much of a symptom as a problem.

Lesson: Health promotion programs should tread lightly in times of organization turmoil.  This is no time for "big bang" multidimensional interventions, especially if they involve a $100 per month penalty.

There is good evidence that employer-sponsored wellness programs save money, but its unlikely that any health promotion will be enough to tame a $217 million budget.  To Penn States credit, they simultaneously made some health insurance benefit changes, but thats been lost in this controversy.

Lesson: If youre fighting high health care cost trends, dont let the positive return on investment (ROI) from health promotion take the lead. It wont work that well, and employees will think this about reducing your costs, not about increasing their well-being.

Similar on-line WebMD wellness assessments for Pittsburgh city employees and the Mennonite Church have gone without any substantial privacy concerns.

Lesson: If there are two employee groups with a special talent for indignant paranoiac outrage over any employer-sponsored health initiative, its medical providers and university faculty. There are plenty of reasons, but the DMCB suspects both are victims of the decades-long twin cultures of 1) autonomy and 2) abundance in health care and higher education.  Stopping by a Faculty Benefits Committee is not enough to secure buy-in.

Interestingly, Penn States College of Medicine has a long standing agreement with Highmark that includes the joint development of evidence-based health, wellness and prevention programs.  Unless thats been cancelled, the medical science facultys silence is deafening.

Lesson: Search for and engage employee subgroups that can be your allies in launching a health promotion initiative. Their advocacy may really help.

There are wellness service providers like this and this with established records of performance that can successfully reconcile employee and employer needs.

Lesson: Theres nothing wrong with perring to "build" over "buy," but only if both options are caully considered at the outset.  External wellness providers are often subject to financial performance and recruitment standards. If the petition gains traction, the latter would sure come in handy here.

Critics of wellness programs in general and this one in particular say that they lead to unnecessary testing.

Lesson: The science is still evolving, but here is one answer to that criticism: its not wellness per se but our societys love of technology.  Wellness programs can use initiatives like Choosing Wisely to develop even better programs.

As a self-insured entity, Penn State technically already has access to all the employees insurance and claims information.  The WebMD privacy concern is silly.

Lesson: Now would not be a good time for Penn States administration to point that out.

Hi,

Im in the middle of my 24-hr fast today and just wanted to blog at this point in time. It has been interesting and it is slightly different than the 16-hour fasts I had been doing. I seem to be more hungry but water and tea, which are permitted, are very satisfying, so Im indulging as I feel the need. I drank a 12-oz bottle of water upon waking and had another when taking my supplements and one prescription. I made a cup of hot green tea but it is so warm out that I per to let it cool down to tepid before drinking it.

I started last night at 5 p.m. and will eat again today at 5 p.m. so it is not like Im starving and dont know where my next meal will come from. I live in the USA and in a part of the city that has three fast food joints in a row about half a mile from my house. There are more across the street. There is no lack of food available. And THAT may be the problem.

I got out my copy of "Eat Stop Eat" for a resher as I began and I was reminded that fasting is a normal part of the human experience. I believe that small meals must have been part of that too. We have access to so much food in the USA that we have forgotten what the real human food experience of our distant ancestors really was like.There are people in the world who still eat that way, but not so much here in the US. We do still have a few religious folk who fast but, as far as I know, there is not must fasting going on here. When was the last time you fasted?

We think of dieting as managing our food intake, or eating a certain kind of food, but have not noticed that "not eating" is actually a part of that, too. It is like type on a page. We notice the black words strung out in paragraphs but dont notice that the white space around them is what makes them usable.

To lose weight you have to eat less food. Short fasts that you do from time to time is a way to eat less food. Fasting also lowers insulin and sugar levels and allows the body to use some of its "storage." Gee, what a good idea!! Use up some of the storage. If taken to extremes fasting can cause problems but you are not going to suddenly become unhealthy because you missed a meal or two or even a whole day of food.

Some of us remember parents who sent them to bed without dinner as a punishment for misbehavior, usually at the dinner table or just before. Nobody died from missing one meal. My parents did not use that particular punishment. Maybe they should have! LOL. The point is that we often forget the simplest form of calorie reduction is to stop eating for a short time. Skip a meal every once in a while.

Brad Pilons extensive research on fasting is contained in his book, "Eat Stop Eat" and makes for excellent reading. In it he offers his once-a-week 24-hour fast as a way to reduce weight without all the "fuss." He answered every question about fasting and health that I could think of and some I didnt think of. He is selling his PDF online for about $10 at this URL: http://www.eatstopeat.com  Well worth the small price. He covers all the misconceptions we may have about fasting and also points out the extensive health benefits, too.

There are really only two states a person can be in, in relation to eating. You are either eating, or not eating. Thats it. Normally we spend more hours not eating than eating, but if things have gotten out of hand and youve been eating too much, extending the "not eating" time is actually good for the body and the mind. It can give the body a real rest from always processing food.

It is now about 1 p.m. and my fast ends at 5 p.m. so I have about four more hours to complete this fast. So it has been about 20 hours since Ive eaten anything and, yes, Im feeling it. But it is not really so bad. Im thinking some of what Im feeling may be because I took my supplements on an empty stomach. Perhaps when Im fasting I should leave them out temporarily, too. I felt fine until I drank half of my tepid green tea. Im not usually a tea drinker so maybe that is it.

Im keeping the reason in mind. The reason Im fasting is to use up a little of my fat. Im thinking about how successful I will feel when I come to the five oclock hour and then break my fast. It is only once a week. I will see if it actually helps me to reduce my weight. If it works, it is a lot easier than counting every calorie I put in my mouth the rest of the week. Im still planning on doing my snack/meal/snack the rest of the time. This is my introduction to a possible new life style.

It always boils down to: you wont know if you dont try it out. Who knows... maybe this is the last time Ill have to try something new. If it works, Ill just plug along at it. If it does not work, well, Ill cross that bridge if I come to it.

Be back soon,

Marcia

Sweet readers! Hi!

Rome, in a nutshell.

It’s me, Kris! I’m back from my Italian honeymoon! And I’m married! To the Husband-Elect! Of course, this means he will henceforth be erred to as … something else … but in the meantime, yay! It’s so good to be home!

How are all of you? Good? Okay, cool. What a relief. I heard about that tornado in Brooklyn and was all like, “Uh oh. I hope the readers and the falafel are okay.”

I’ll have much more about Italy, its stunning proliferation of pasta, and its even stunning-er lack of iced drinks on Monday. But first, three quick things:

1. THANK YOU, LEIGH ANGEL for running CHG while I was out of the country/getting all nuptial. Your last name is not false advertising.
2. Thank you also to Jaime Green, Cindee Weiss, Amy Dickenson, and Michele Laikowski for writing sweet pieces for the site. I give you metaphorical noogies of love, my dearies.
3. Hey! It’s the links! They’re a little abbreviated today, as wading through my Google Reader was much like the first ten minutes of Platoon. They wade a lot during that. If you haven’t seen it, trust me. There’s wading.

And with that, here you go. Yay, marriage! And eating!

1) Politics of the Plate: Aboard the Vegetable Express: Getting Fresh, Organic Produce to the Neighborhoods that Need them Most
Wondering how to transport fresh veggies to neighborhoods lacking ‘em? Take a cue from the ice cream man. Great piece.

2) Food Politics: Colbert on Farm Workers
First, watch the clip of Stephen Colbert’s recent statement to Congress about immigrant farm workers. (“This is America. I don’t want a tomato picked by a Mexican. I want it picked by an American, then sliced by a Guatemalan, and served by a Venezuelan in a spa where a Chilean gives me a Brazilian.”) Then, check out Marion Nestle’s take on it.

3) Yahoo Green: 25 Things Chefs Never Tell You
This will make you alternately gag and celebrate, especially for: “The most unbelievable tale: ‘Someone once ran a steak through a dishwasher after the diner sent it back twice. Ironically, the customer was happy with it then.’”

4) Epi-Log: When to Get Rid of a Cookbook
Short and sweet tips on when to cull your collection. Looking at mine: Daniel Boulud’s Braise, it might be your time.

5) The Atlantic: The Evils of Corn Syrup – How Food Writers Got it Wrong
In which it’s argued that HFCS isn’t so much a problem as is putting some form of sugar in dang near everything.

6) Seattle Times: Save Money, Eat Better by Using Scraps Creatively
Want to bank some extra cash? Use all your food – every part of it – when you cook. Here are tips on how. (Tomato water as fish broth? Genius.)

7) Casual Kitchen: Price is Just a Number
Dan’s running a short series on Understanding the Consumuer Products Industry. This, his first entry, concentrates on how price points are devised. Best line: “Companies love, and will take maximum advantage of, consumer enthusiasm for new popular items. … In some instances, consumer products companies will even go so far as to create real (or imagined) shortages of goods in order to stoke consumer fervor and drive still more perceived value for their products.”

8) Get Rich Slowly: Swapping Convenience for Low Costs
A tenet of frugality: If you have time, you will save money. (Also, if you build it, he will come.)

9) Money Saving Mom: How to Deal with Not-So-Friendly Cashiers
They need to post this at my Key Food. Hell, they need to bronze it.

10) Food Politics: FTC Says No to Wonderful POM Advertising Claims
Oh, thank goodness. While I dig the free drinking glasses we have, POM is pretty much glorified Juicy Juice. And you can punctuate it.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

344 Pounds: Avoid Mistakes When Counting Calories
Re-measuring every so often is a biggie, especially when it comes to liquids

The Atlantic: The Unlikely Way to Fight Obesity
More in the Atlantic’s ongoing series. This one focuses on marketers

Marketplace: Best Celebrity Cookware
Winnahs: Emeril, Giads. Losah: Jamie Oliver.

AND ALSO

It Gets Better
Columnist Dan Savage started the “It Gets Better” initiative after the suicide of Billy Lucas, a 15-year-old gay kid who was finally teased too much. (More about it here.) (Incidentally, three more kids have killed themselves for similar reasons since then.) My friend Michael submitted this video, which is just over the moon with empathy, hilarity, and insight. Enjoy, and send it to a teen who might be having a similarly tough time. (Obligatory bloggy heads up: Rated PG for a few epithets and sexual erences.)



Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

Many people believe occasional lapses in memory are normal and part of getting old, but medical research shows us that `senior moments’ should not be viewed as normal aging and are cause for concern. Cognitive decline and loss of short term memory are caused by the same process that leads to the most feared form of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease. Fortunately there are a number of lifestyle altering steps you can take to lower disease risk, prevent progression and improve your memory.

Over recent years many pieces of research have identified a link between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and a lower risk of age-related disease such as dementia.

Until now there has been no systematic review of such research, where a number of studies regarding a Mediterranean diet and cognitive function are reviewed for consistencies, common trends and inconsistencies.

A team of researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School, supported by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care in the South West Peninsula (NIHR PenCLAHRC), has carried out the first such systematic review and their findings are published in Epidemiology.

The team analysed 12 eligible pieces of research, 11 observational studies and one randomised control trial. In nine out of the 12 studies, a higher adherence to a Mediterranean diet was associated with better cognitive function, lower rates of cognitive decline and a reduced risk of Alzheimers disease.

However, results for mild cognitive impairment were inconsistent.

A Mediterranean diet typically consists of higher levels of olive oil, vegetables, fruit and fish. A higher adherence to the diet means higher daily intakes of fruit and vegetables and fish, and reduced intakes of meat and dairy products.

The study was led by NIHR PenCLAHRC researcher Iliana Lourida. She said: "Mediterranean food is both delicious and nutritious, and our systematic review shows it may help to protect the ageing brain by reducing the risk of dementia. While the link between adherence to a Mediterranean diet and dementia risk is not new, ours is the first study to systematically analyse all existing evidence."

She added: "Our review also highlights inconsistencies in the literature and the need for further research. In particular research is needed to clarify the association with mild cognitive impairment and vascular dementia. It is also important to note that while observational studies provide suggestive evidence we now need randomized controlled trials to confirm whether or not adherence to a Mediterranean diet protects against dementia."

The Disease Management Care Blog remembers her well.

She knew it was not going to be good news.  That gnawing pain in the pit of the stomach was getting worse and, when the whites of her eyes turned yellow (for example), she knew she had to see the doctor.  The CAT scan confirmed what the DMCB already knew: it was cancer and it was going to kill her in a matter of months.

In the months of DMCB follow-up, the patient talked about her pain, other docs, family, regrets, treatments, comforts, side effects, new limitations, waning appetite, getting skinny, numerous fears, dying and, yes, religion.  Aside from taking a few seconds to drag a stethoscope across her chest or poke at her scarred abdomen, the DMCB mostly listened.

It sat still and listened.

In retrospect, the DMCB was using a long-used strategy of  patient centered empathy.  As a nonegoic counselor, it was enabling the patient to think aloud with a non-judgmental listener and "process" a new reality.  While economists can only speculate on the "impact on claims expense" or the "return on investment," this is a low-cost and high value health care intervention.  Its also a way to accommodate, use and even share in patients religious and spiritual needs.

Unfortunately, this kind of counseling is also time consuming.  While surveys show that mainstream providers believe in active listening and being engaged in patients spirituality, perceptions over "professional role conflicts" make actually doing it in a busy clinic another matter.

The DMCB suspects the same ambivalence is present in the care management provider industry.  The DMCB has seen vendor nurses in action, and while their counseling protocols include "readiness for enhanced spiritual well-being," the ability of a telephonic nurse-counselor to meaningfully provide high impact and spiritual listening probably varies from individual to individual.  Long telephone queues make actually doing it another matter.

And the same is true in patient-centered medical homes, where non-physician professional team members are assigned the task of patient counseling in their day-to-day care and case management.

Which is why the DMCB likes community-based organizations like Someone To Tell It To.* When patients are facing a life-altering disease or complication, they often seek guidance that not only falls outside the narrow evidence-based protocols that drive care management, but the interests, ability or beliefs of an individual counselor to offer it.  In a classic "build or buy" decision, companies can develop this resource on their own (perhaps by designating an in-house provider with special skills or interest in this sort of counseling) or "outsource" and erring the patient. 

While it may seem awkward to "outsource" this kind of counseling, the DMCB has examined the rise of health care outsourcing here and here.  If Someone To Tell It To can help patients being followed by care management providers, medical homes or ACOs, why not er them? 

Why should this important facet of patient care be any different?

*Disclaimer: the non-salaried DMCB spouse serves on STTITs Board of Directors.

Lots of excellent links this week, many dealing with weird imbalances in food subsidies and how they affect health nationwide.

Which? Incidentally? I think we’re at a tipping point here. Media’s covering the subsidy issue more and more, and man-on-the-street awareness is slowly setting in. If the blogosphere is any indication, some substantial change will soon be in order, methinks.

But first … the links!

1) Zen Habits: The Simple Way to Stick to a Meal Plan
A soothing, calm approach to eating, highlighting the benefits of incremental dietary changes. Incidentally, I love this blog. It makes me want to listen to Sade and sip chai.

2) Salon: Hipsters on Food Stamps
This controversial piece has been making the rounds this week. Essentially, highly educated folks in their 20s and 30s are relying on food stamps to get by, but they’re buying organic produce and artisan breads with the assistance. Commenters are torn. Half are all like, “What’s the big deal? Would you feel better if they bought Big Macs?” The other half are all like, “What’s a kid with a MA doing on food stamps? Stop buying ironic t-shirts and get a job, beatnik!”

3) Food Politics: Michelle Obama to Grocery Manufacturers - Let’s Move!
MObama recently spoke to the GMA (note: Grocery Manufacturers Association, not Good Morning America), urging them to overhaul their practices for the good of the children. I try to keep this a bipartisan blog, but man, I love this lady.

4) Consumerist: How Oranges Cost More Than Coke
Adjusting for inflation, produce is almost 50% more expensive today than it was in 1978. Soda (or pop, for you Buffalonians) is 33% cheaper. Something is seriously wrong here.

5) New York Times: The Obesity-Hunger Paradox
Some of the poorest areas in America also happen to be the heaviest, with the South Bronx at the top of the list. Causes, consequences, and some really innovative solutions herein. Absolutely worth a read. (Go! Read it! I mean it.)

6) Casual Kitchen: The Worst Lie of the Food Blogosphere
The lie: “Food companies are evil.”
The post: provocative.
The discussion: smart, fun, even a little heated.

7) Civil Eats: 8 Steps the Department of Justice Could Take to Reform Farming
U.S. farmers reported a 35% drop in income in 2009. Agriculture megacorp Monsanto is expecting “gross margins in Q2 2010 of 62%.” It ain’t right, and the USDA and Justice Department are looking into their monopoly-esque practices. These eight ideas could help level the playing field.

8) New York Times: In Hard Times, Lured Into Trade School and Debt
You know those commercials for Le Cordon Bleu you see all over the Food Network? They’re actually for a for-profit college system called the Career Education Corporation. Students are charged $41,000 for a 15- or 21-month program that nets them jobs making $21,000 yearly.

9) Culinate: Culinary choreography - The importance of not being afraid to fail with cooking
Or, to quote Conan O’Brien’s commencement speech to the Harvard Class of 2000, “Fall down. Make a mess. Break something occasionally. Know that your mistakes are your own unique way of getting to where you need to be.” It applies to chicken, too.

10) Wise Bread: Cheapest Ways to Get Your Caffeine Fix
Need to stay awake, but don’t want to fork over $4.57 for a vente double mocha latte skim? This ingenious little list will keep your eyes wide open.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Amber Waves: Guess Who’s Turning 100? - Tracking a Century of American Eating
Interesting piece on U.S. food trends since 1900. Plus, a bonus Boogie Nights erence, right in the blog title!

BoingBoing: London restaurant serves WWII rationing cuisine
Kitchen Front is a Brit eatery that recreates ‘40s food precisely, and then serves it up as dinner fare. The flavor is, uh, utilitarian at best, but the reviewer gives the place points for accuracy.

Chow: When Did “Cheeseburger” Become a Flavor?
Good question. Those Pringles cans freak me out, man.

Consumerist: This 1-Year-Old Happy Meal Has Aged Surprisingly Well
French fries age better than people. Both age better than Soylent Green.

Food Politics: Disturbances on the GM Front
GM meaning “genetically modified,” not “General Motors.”

Money Saving Mom: 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget – Shop at More than One Store
The series continues. Log on and save mad cash.

The Simple Dollar: Litterless Juice Boxes – Do They Save Money if You Have Kids?
Short answer: yes. (As long as your children don’t lose stuff.) (Kids don’t lose stuff, do they?)


BLOG CARNIVALS

CHG was fortunate to be featured in two blog carnivals this week! Sweet.

• Canadian Finance Blog: Festival of Frugality #221
• Stop the Ride: Make it From Scratch Festival #159

AND ALSO

Ukraine’s Got Talent: Kseniya Simonova - Sand Animation
Wow. She’s doing that with sand. I couldnt do that with actual art supplies.



Thank you so much for visiting Cheap Healthy Good! (We appreciate it muchly). If you’d like to further support CHG, subscribe to our RSS feed! Or become a Facebook friend! Or check out our Twitter! Or buy something inexpensive, yet fulfilling via that Amazon store (on the left)! Bookmarking sites and links are nice, too. Viva la France!

<3 Salt

It has come to my attention, based on talking to people about their nutrition concerns, that many of us are completely clueless to how much sodium is in food. Its not your fault. There are many reasons why your perception of the sodium content of a food might be skewed. For one, just because something tastes salty doesnt necessarily mean its high in sodium. Yes, really. Another thing: A product that says "lower in sodium" or "less sodium" does not necessarily have a low sodium content. It may just have less sodium than another similar product but still contain a lot of it. And also, many foods that dont have a salty taste at all might contain more sodium than you think!

Now, theres a caveat with this... because I dont think sodium intake is something you should be overly concerned with. Ive written on this extensively in the past (see The Problem With Salt Restriction, How to Prevent High Blood Pressure, and A Snarky Rant on Sodium and Blood Pressure). Its not as important for keeping a healthy blood pressure as you think it is.

Regardless, there are many people out there who will completely ignore this advice because their doctor and the media say otherwise. Fine. If youre going to worry about sodium intake, I can at least provide you with some useful tips.

Lets play a little game! The other day I went snooping around the grocery store taking pics of food labels. Ive got 5 foods here. Heres how its going to work: I will give you the 5 foods that Ive taken pictures of, but I will only be showing you the unidentified food label with the sodium content. Id like you to try to place the names to their respective sodium levels! Ready, set, go!

Here are your options:
Special K Cereal
Salted Almonds
Regular Lays Potato Chips
Whole Wheat Bread
Salted Butter

And here are your sodium contents:






Take your best guess before scrolling down!! Otherwise youre a dirty cheater.










And the results:

Salted Almonds

Salted Butter

Lays Potato Chips

Special K

Whole Wheat Bread

How did you do??? Not well I presume.

Like I said, your taste buds can deceive you!! Foods with added salt like almonds, butter, and potato chips DO NOT in fact contain a lot of sodium! While grain-based processed foods like Special K and whole wheat bread contain MORE sodium than these salted foods. But since we dont taste the salt, we assume its not there. Wrong!

If youre going to worry about sodium, despite my best advice, at least do it right. Always read the label!