Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

• At 66 years old rock and roll immortal, Sir Paul McCartney, isn’t slowing down. In fact, the newly named Fireman does Yoga six times a day. He does eye Yoga, something he picked up during a recent trip to India. It involves various eye movements to keep the eye muscles strong; from Healthy Hollywood.

• New findings in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggest postmenopausal women who exercise more have improved mental and physical wellbeing. Participants in all 3 exercise groups (the fourth was a control group) reported better quality of life and weight-loss of up to 4.10 pounds; via HealthDay News.

• The United Kingdom Conservative Party has placed a bid to change the law for stricter country-of-origin labeling of meat. Current regulations allow imported meat to be processed in Britain, i.e. made into prepared meals, sausage, pies and other foods, but labeled as British meat; FoodNavigator reports.

• Apparently an owner of the peanut company linked to the deadly peanut butter-salmonella outbreak that caused 600 illnesses and 8 deaths, urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella contamination. The owner was worried about lost sales; ENN explains.

• Another study in the Archives of Internal Medicine claims bad sleeping habits might cause psychiatric illnesses, like depression, or lead to unusual behavior that may cause doctors to mistakenly diagnosis someone with mental problems and prescribe unnecessary psychoactive drugs; NewScientists reports.

• A U.S. court has ruled against three families who claimed vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella vaccine caused their children's autism, concluding that the families were misled, saying evidence does support that thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative, damages immune systems; from Reuters.

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According to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association obese women are more likely to give birth to children with congenital anomalies such as spina-bifida, heart problems and cleft palate. Researchers insist the overall risk is low since birth defects only affect 2% to 4% of pregnancies, but obese women were more likely to have a child with heart defects and nearly twice as likely to have a brain or spinal cord deformity; Reuters investigates.

In addition to birth defects, obesity can increase mortality in infants and women who gain too much weight during pregnancy may raise fatter teenagers. And other reports have linked obesity with cancer and heart attack risk, and greater likelihood of miscarriage.

Belly fat in particular is a problem. Studies associate larger waist sizes with both migraine headaches and stroke. Clearly, those extra pounds are more than just a pain in the butt.

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• Some health experts believe our obsession with cleanliness is making us sick. They’re even being so bold to suggest we eat some worms and dirt and, get your vomit bags ready, ingest fecal bacteria. Exposure to filth may bolster our immune system; via DiscoBlog.

• Misdiagnosed food allergies may be on the rise and in extreme cases putting children at risk for malnutrition. And reports claim avoiding certain foods for fear of mistaken food allergies may make children more sensitive when foods are eventually eaten; from Well.

• We all know antioxidants in fruits and vegetables keep you healthy. Cranberries are loaded with antioxidants. So, one company has invented cranberry dental floss and claims using it attaches phytochemicals to your teeth and prevents gum disease; via Vitamin G.

• On Tuesday, the owner of the U.S. peanut company responsible for the salmonella-peanut butter outbreak pleaded the 5th and refused to answer questions before Congress, while internal company messages show him complaining about lost profits; Reuters reports.

• Nintendo’s Wii Fit is different than other video games systems. In that it requires some moving around, rather than just sitting on your butt all day, but gaming experts call Wii Fit an exercise fad with very few people continuing to use it after a month; Forbes explains.

• Speaking of exercise, given America’s bulging weight problem, the accepted standard of 30 minutes of exercise 5 times a week may not be enough for long term weight-loss. Rather, some people are in favor of 200 to 300 minutes of exercise per week; Reuters investigates.

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Obesity is on the rise, especially among children. So getting kids to run around is a good idea, but a new study in Child Development reveals many children in preschool spend only 8% of their day involved light physical activity and just 3% doing moderate to vigorous physical activity, but the rest of the day, 89%, is spent sedentary and teachers were unlikely to encourage kids to be more physically active. But placing toys outside in open spaces made kids more likely to get moving; from EurekAlert!

No doubt, this isn’t helping to lessen the obesity trend and to make matters worse. Pediatricians are failing to diagnosis weight problems in children. In an earlier report, only 10% of children studied were given a weight-related diagnosis. And many parents don’t even realize their kid is overweight.

In December, a study found that parents’ genetics are linked to a child’s risk of obesity, but social factors, like lifestyle choices, physical activity and meals, are just as important. Everyone, exercise!

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Those photos come from total wellness mentor Gretchen Goel. She heads up something called the Super Plant Eaters Club and as you can see, these kids love their fruits and veggies! But their table manners need work. Thanks Gretchen!

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A new study in Clinical and Experimental Allergy claims eating fast food once or twice a week negates the beneficial effects of breastfeeding. Fast food is becoming more pervasive in young children’s diets. So, scientists examined kids with or without asthma and found breastfeeding for too short of a time increased asthma-risk and kids breastfed for less than 3 months and ate a lot of fast food had an even higher risk; via The University of Alberta.

Listen, there’s no reason to eat fast food. But breastfeeding is important. In Disease-Proof Your Child, Dr. Fuhrman explains breast milk transfers important antibodies from mother to baby, which reduces risk of asthma and helps maximize intelligence.

Burgers and fries spread like locusts! In the Mediterranean, fast food is feeding an epidemic of heart disease, cancer and obesity.

Via The Daily Green.

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New research Epidemiology claims babies born to obese moms are more likely to die in the first weeks of life than infants of normal-weight mothers. Scientists examined medical records of more than 4,000 babies who died in infancy and records of over 7,000 surviving babies and found among the babies who died, 8.8% had obese mothers, compared to 5.9% of surviving infants. And women who gained the most weight during pregnancy had the highest rate of infant mortality; Reuters reports.

A previous study determined a mother’s diet can actually influence the gender of her baby and gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase a child’s likelihood of becoming overweight, even into their teenager years. Wow, good thing my mom ate like a bird when she was spawning me.

So, be careful when you’re pregnant! Dr. Fuhrman suggests avoiding things like cat litter, paint thinner and smoking and not eating foods like deli meat, sushi and alcohol.

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