Pregnant Women, Health-Care Workers Top Swine Flu Vaccine Candidates
CDC advisory panel outlines priorities for a fall flu shot rollout
Women who are pregnant, children 6 months and older and health-care workers should all get top priority when the H1N1 swine flu vaccine arrives this fall, a U.S. government advisory panel recommended late Wednesday.
Added to that list of first-line recipients are parents and caregivers of infants, non-elderly adults with risky medical problems and young adults ages 19 to 24, according to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The panel met in Atlanta to review data for setting swine flu vaccine priorities.
“The committee recommended five target groups for the initial focus for immunization,” Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at a late-afternoon news conference Wednesday. “These are groups that had higher risk of disease, who had greater burden of complications.” Read more
The Unhealthiest Drinks in America 2009
We’ve updated our list of the absolute worst drinks to avoid, and offer sensible alternatives.
Americans have a drinking problem. We simply consume too much nutrient-empty, calorie-full liquid. Blame food marketers for the ever-expanding serving vessels, chock-full of cheap sugar substitutes, a variety of hard-to-pronounce chemicals, and tons of fat.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. It turns out, those liquid calories are the easiest kind to cut. And a recent study from Johns Hopkins University found that people who cut liquid calories from their diets lose more weight, and keep it off longer, than people who cut food calories. In fact, cutting those calories in half could mean you could drop almost 23 1/2 pounds in one year! Read more
Lose Weight Eating Restaurant Foods
A recent study from the University of Arkansas says a mouthful: The average diner underestimates his or her calorie count by up to 93 percent when eating out. So every time you step through a restaurant door, you may be consuming twice what you bargained for. And that’s bad news for all of us: This year Americans will spend $500 billion—half of our total food dollars—eating out. It’s a double-dip disaster: More meals out, more calories consumed, more trouble from expanding waistlines. Read more
Liposuction
What’s your least favorite body part? Despite the popularity of low-carb and low-glycemic diets, keeping a diet food diary, or even resorting to diet pills, most U.S. adults still fight bulging bellies and flabby thighs. No wonder liposuction is the third-most-requested cosmetic surgery procedure, following breast augmentation and rhinoplasty, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS). Even the recession isn’t keeping us away from lipo: 245,000 procedures were performed last year, at an average cost of $4,000.
According to Andrew Da Lio, M.D., a clinical associate professor of plastic surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine, the ideal liposuction candidate is someone who works out regularly and has a healthy body-fat percentage, or BMI, and is mostly bothered by small fat deposits in one or two specific spots (such as the dreaded “muffin top”). However, he adds, most patients who request liposuction are out of shape and turn to surgery as a shortcut to lose weight.
This can cause disappointment down the road, he says, because “liposuction changes the way you gain and lose weight.” The human body has a predetermined number of fat cells, or a set-point. When fat is removed by liposuction, it can prompt the body to gain weight in areas that previously weren’t problem spots. In fact, Da Lio says he frequently sees patients return two to four years after their first procedure to request it again.
Think liposuction is still for you? Check out the risks involved and, of course, consider the side effects that you may encounter.
If you’re not ready for the leap into liposuction, here are a few things to try to get your body headed in the right direction:
* Count calories. It’s often eye-opening and can help you cut out foods high in fat and sugar.
* Search for a fitness instructor in your area.
* Find exercise videos to try at home.
* Make sure your fitness plan combines aerobic exercise, cross-training, and lifting weights.
Flat, Sexy Abs in 5 Moves
Tired of pinching an inch (or two)? Target your abs in a whole new way to get your leanest, firmest torso ever!
A whittled-down waistline plays harder-to-get with age because, even if you don’t gain more weight, more fat is stored in your middle compared to elsewhere in your body. But you can’t fight the flab sitting down. Flattening your abs takes a two-pronged approach: You need to firm up weak muscles and reduce the fat that surrounds them. Our five core exercises will tighten your torso, and adding more cardio to your week will slim it down. Read more
5 Easy Ways to Get More Vitamin D
One 3.5-ounce serving has 360 IUs of vitamin D—a little less than half the daily intake our experts recommend.
Almost all cow milk in the U.S. is fortified with vitamin D. One 8-ounce glass gives you 98 IUs. And many brands of soy, rice and almond milks are fortified with the vitamin too—check labels to make sure your favorite has it.
Three ounces in a sandwich or on a salad will give you 25 percent of the daily minimum our experts suggest.
Some yogurts have added D. Yoplait’s original fruit flavors, for example, have around 80 IUs per 6-ounce container.
Not all cereals are fortified with the vitamin, so check labels. Two that are: Cheerios and Raisin Bran each have about 40 IUs per cup.
