Daily Health Tips: Trusted Medical Information, Health Tips and Advices

Show your heart some love and boost your odds of a longer life by stir-frying this Chinese green: bok choy. A large-scale study found that people who eat the most vegetables have lower mortality rates -- especially from heart troubles. But the strongest protective benefits were tied to intake of cruciferous vegetables, like bok choy. Not All Vegetables Created Equal The study followed over 100,000 middle-aged men and women in Shanghai, China -- a part of the world where people consume lots of veggies, particularly cruciferous ones. And a diet survey there revealed that people whose daily diets included the most vegetables were 15% less likely to have died during the 5-year study period. And the risk of heart disease-related death was particularly low for the vegetable lovers. But the surprising insight? People who consumed the most cruciferous vegetables were the best protected The Cruciferous Quotient Bok choy is just one example from the cruciferous vegetable gro

Two minutes in the morning and two minutes in the evening and your lungs may be breathing fine for a very long time. We're talking about brushing your teeth. As you've no doubt heard, good dental hygiene helps prevent gum disease. But what you might not know? A recent study suggests that gum disease may open the door to some pretty serious lung diseases. The Mouth-Lung Connection Smoking remains the leading cause of serious respiratory diseases, such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The recent study did not conclusively prove that gum disease is another direct cause of COPD. But people in the study who were hospitalized with COPD and other types of lung disease had significantly higher rates of gingivitis and periodontal disease than the folks in a control group who had healthy lungs. It's not clear what the connection is. But we know that the bacteria from dental plaque, when inhaled into the lungs, not only can cause COPD

It's versatile, it's low in fat, and it's high in protein. And it just might help your lungs stay lusty and young. We're talking about soy. Don't blanch just yet. Prepared correctly, soy can taste sublime. Certain kinds, like tofu, easily take on the flavor of whatever you cook with. And research suggests that some extra tofu or edamame in your diet may slash your risk of pulmonary diseases to boot. Tasty Airway Protection Specifically, early research shows that eating soy foods is associated with a reduced risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). That's a category of lung ailments that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. In one recent Japanese study, those with the highest intakes of soy foods not only had lower risk of COPD but also had better overall lung function. Here's another food that lungs love. A Controversial Food? There's a ton of conflicting evidence about the health benefits of soy. But as a whole food

It's Fruit and Vegetable Month, and there's one fruit in particular that your lungs love. It's round, it's red, and it's really delicious. Give up? It's apples. This Superman of fruits is packed full of vitamins and phytochemicals that may reduce the risk of asthma and improve your overall lung capacity. How many should you eat? The Flavonoid Fruit In a study, people who ate at least five apples a week had better lung function than the people who noshed less frequently on this crunchy fruit. However many you decide to munch, get the most out of them by eating the peel, too. That's where most of the health-helping flavonoids -- like quercetin, catechin, epicatechin, and procyanidins -- reside. There's another way apples may help you breathe easier: by loosening your waistband.

You know how information overload can wilt your decision-making powers? Well, the same principle applies to your diet. Too much information -- in the form of snacks peeking out of the pantry, breads sitting on the kitchen counter, platters overflowing with plenty of extra helpings, and scoops of this, that, and everything else crowding your dinner plate -- makes it difficult for your brain to make rational, self-controlled choices. Just as cityscapes can trigger the urge to explore, and gardenscapes can help your mind unwind, "kitchenscapes" can set the mood for food. Here are some suggestions about how to make your kitchenscape -- and tablescape and platescape -- trigger healthy eating choices: Kitchenscapes : The foods on the counter, ready to grab, are going to make it into your mouth most often. So hide the candy in the cupboard and set out a bowl of fresh fruit. In your fridge, bring the produce out of hiding and package and freeze large portions of lefto

Every house needs fire-extinguisher foods -- good-for-you snacks that will put out three-alarm starvation fires. Ideally, you'll want to always be satisfied and not hungry, meaning you can go much longer without food. But sometimes, we know, it feels as if you haven't eaten since junior year of high school. Here's our list of foods to reach for when that happens: Cut-up vegetables. Cut them, bag them, eat them. Nothing wrong with baby carrots, grape tomatoes, and broccoli florets, but if you prefer jicama, sugar snaps, and orange pepper strips, go for it. Sauteed vegetables. Saute them in olive oil with chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, or a good dash of turmeric. Refrigerate, and then reheat when you need a snack. Nuts. A handful of almonds, peanuts, or walnuts. (But just a handful; as healthy as they are, they're still high-calorie foods.) Edamame. Another name for soybeans; look for microwave bags in the frozen food section. Soups. Once a week

A sore hip makes everything more difficult -- from sleeping to walking up stairs. But you could keep those hips of yours feeling fine if you're a lover of garlic and onions. About 15 percent of older adults regularly deal with hip pain. But in a recent study of women, those who tended to eat lots of produce -- particularly herbs from the allium family, such as onions and garlic -- showed fewer signs of hip osteoarthritis in x-ray tests. Arthritis-Fighting Allium The study analyzed the diets of a large group of middle-aged adult twins, most of whom did not have symptoms of arthritis when the study started. Eating lots of allium herbs correlated with less arthritis in the hip. And in a separate lab analysis, researchers also found that diallyl disulphide -- a substance found in the allium family -- appeared to help inhibit enzymes that can cause damage to joint-protective cartilage.    Culinary Cartilage Protection Garlic and onions are probably the widest known

Easing arthritis symptoms isn't just about exercise and pills. The foods you eat could help joints with osteoarthritis feel better, too. Food as medicine. It's a wonderful concept because it gives us an empowering and fun way -- eating -- to do something helpful for our bodies, like easing joint pain. And some day, doctors may very well prescribe exercise, medication, and a special diet to help keep people's arthritic joints healthy. But right now, the only way diet likely enters your osteoarthritis conversation with your doctor is when you talk about losing weight. Because although there's no way to cure arthritis through food, if you are overweight, a weight loss diet may be one of the best things you can do for the health of your joints. Still, quite a bit of promising research has shown that certain foods and nutrients may help ease osteoarthritis symptoms. More study is needed to confirm the results, but since most of the foods studied to date are g

Stroke Deaths Declining, but Stroke Is Still Third Leading Cause of Death A healthy lifestyle -- which includes not smoking, eating a low-fat diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, exercising, and maintaining a healthy body weight -- may help prevent a first-time stroke. That's according to the American Heart Association, whose revised guidelines say such healthy behaviors reduce the risk for stroke by as much as 80%. In addition to a healthy lifestyle, authors of the guidelines say primary care visits and emergency room visits provide a major opportunity to intervene and reduce the risk of stroke. Emergency room physicians could identify people at risk, particularly patients with diabetes , asymptomatic high blood pressure , or atrial fibrillation, and make recommendations to help prevent a first-time stroke. "Stroke remains a major health care problem,"  "Its human and economic toll is staggering." The guidelines, last updated in 200

 Drinking Pomegranate Juice May Prevent Complications in Kidney Disease Patients on Dialysis Pomegranate juice has been touted for years as having many health benefits, and now a new study says it can ward off a number of complications in kidney disease patients on dialysis. In a small study in Israel involving 101 dialysis patients, scientists randomly gave some people pomegranate juice and others a placebo drink at the start of each dialysis session, three times a week for a year. Pomegranate juice is known to be a good source of antioxidants. The patients who drank the pomegranate juice showed a reduction in both inflammation and damage caused by free radicals. New Findings Support Previous Research on Pomegranate Juice Benefits The findings of the study, written by Batya Kristal, MD, FASN, of Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, Israel, support previous research that has suggested potent antioxidant properties of pomegranate juice. The scientists say in a news

Lactobacillus GG May Ease Stomachaches in Children With Irritable Bowel Syndrome A common probiotic may help ease tummy troubles for children with chronic stomach pain caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). A new study shows the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus strain GG, commonly known as lactobacillus GG or LGG, significantly reduced the severity and frequency of bouts of abdominal pain in children with irritable bowel syndrome. Probiotics are "friendly bacteria" that are similar to organisms naturally found in the digestive tract. Certain types of probiotics have been linked to a number of health benefits in adults, such as soothing irritable bowel syndrome. But they have not been widely studied in children. Researchers say recurrent abdominal pain affects 10% to 15% of school-aged children. Irritable bowel syndrome is often the cause, and there are few treatment options available for children with this disorder. "One of the best-studied pro