(CNN) — Citing a potential health risk, the California Department of Public Health warned consumers Friday to not eat certain bagged salads manufactured by River Ranch Fresh Foods and sold under various names.

The company, based in Salinas, California, voluntarily recalled the salads “after routine sampling detected Listeria Monocytogenes in two packages of shredded iceberg lettuce purchased from retail locations in California and Colorado,” the health department said in a news release.

No illnesses have been reported, it said.

The affected salads have been distributed to outlets across the country under the brand names River Ranch, Farm Stand, Hy-Vee, Marketside, Shurfresh, The Farmer’s Market, Cross Valley, Fresh n Easy, Promark and Sysco, it said.

River Ranch is a wholly owned subsidiary of Taylor Farms, also of Salinas. Neither company responded to calls for comment.

A spokeswoman for the health department said it was not immediately clear how large the recall would ultimately be. “We’re looking into that right now,” Heather Bourbeau said.

The bacteria are commonly found in soil and water.

Symptoms of infection may include fever and muscle aches, sometimes preceded by diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, they may include a headache, a stiff neck, confusion, a loss of balance and convulsions.

Infants, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are at highest risk for severe illness and death. Among pregnant women, the bacteria can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth, premature delivery or infection of the newborn.

Article source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/18/health/lettuce-contaminated/

The United States is unique among
developed nations in the extent to which it has resisted a government-run
health care system. Nevertheless, it has often been said that the United States has
the most heavily regulated health care system in the world. What does this mean?

In fact, our health care delivery
and finance systems are mixed public and private. Health care professionals
practice independently or in groups, while hospitals and other health care
facilities are privately owned (although most are at least nominally
“non-profit”). About thirty percent of Americans are publicly insured–primarily
through Medicare and Medicaid–but public programs are often administered by
private insurers. Sixteen percent of Americans are uninsured, but most of the
rest are insured through employment-sponsored insurance, heavily subsidized through
tax expenditures to the tune of roughly $200 billion a year.

Both our delivery and financing
systems are heavily regulated. Moreover, not only are our delivery and financing
systems a public-private mix, so is our regulatory system. Hospitals are
regulated primarily by The Joint Commission, a private entity founded by and
still dominated by physician organizations. Hospitals and physicians must
comply with the utilization and payment rules of many different private
insurers.

Health care regulatory programs
are imposed for many reasons, but four reasons stand out. First, many programs are justified as
necessary to address well-understood market failures. The minimum coverage requirement
(individual mandate) in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), for example, was enacted
to discourage “adverse selection”–the tendency of only unhealthy people to buy health insurance if insurers must accept all applicants. Pharmaceuticals
are regulated because few consumers have the information or ability to
assess their safety or effectiveness. Second, we regulate because we are using
private delivery and financing systems to accomplish public goals. Because the ACA relies on private
insurers to cover uninsurable individuals, it prohibits health status-based underwriting. Federal law requires private hospitals to provide emergency care regardless of the ability of patients to pay, because Congress has been unwilling to provide a tax-funded public program to pay for it. Third, regulatory programs exist because we are paying for privately
provided care and insurance using public funds, and must ensure that public
funds are properly spent. Finally, much of health care regulation is best
understood as special interest protection. Restrictive “scope-of-practice” laws, enacted by legislatures at the behest of special interest trade groups, protect the professional privilege of doctors and specialists while restricting public access to less expensive providers, like nurse practitioners and midwives.

Our problems are exacerbated
because, as the Bipartisan Policy Center’s
Julie Barnes pointed out in a March
2012 “America the Fixable” essay, we pay for most health care on a
fee-for-service basis. This creates incentives for physicians to provide as
many discrete services as possible to maximize payment (a tendency often
justified by an asserted fear of malpractice litigation). Moreover, hospitals,
laboratories, imaging facilities, and drug companies are often eager to reward
physicians for ordering their products and services. Attempts by the fee-for-service
Medicare program to control the amount or payments physicians receive to a “sustainable growth
rate” were stymied as utilization of services grew rapidly and intensive lobbying defeated attempts to
reduce prices accordingly.

To combat these incentives, the
federal and state governments have adopted a host of very complicated and often
redundant statutes prohibiting kickbacks, self-referrals, and fraudulent and
abusive claims practices, while private insurers impose pre-service approval
and post-service utilization review for some procedures.

Not surprisingly, we have a dysfunctional
health care system. We spend far more per capita and as a percentage of our GDP
than any other country in the world. Despite this, 50 million Americans lack
any certain means of paying for their health care, resulting in thousands of
premature deaths and bankruptcies every year. Finally, the quality of American
health care is not exceptional–we do very well with some things, like detecting
and treating some kinds of cancer, but lag behind other countries in other
respects and have a poor record for patient safety and medical errors.

What should be done? A purely
private system of health care financing would solve some problems, but cause others.
It would make all but the most basic health care inaccessible to many, perhaps
most, Americans–a result most Americans would find unacceptable. Alternatively,
we could move more toward a publicly financed system, the approach taken by all
other developed nations. This solution brings its own well-documented problems,
which vary from country to country–but it does allow much greater control over cost
and facilitates broader access. The public solution runs contrary to the
political culture of the United
States, however, and is adamantly opposed by
powerful interest and ideological advocacy groups. For the present, our mixed
system must muddle along.

We can take steps, however, to
reduce the regulatory burden. Most importantly, we can move away from
fee-for-service payment. The ACA creates a Center for Medicare and Medicaid
Innovation to experiment with alternatives such as bundled payments, and some projects
are already underway. The ACA’s Accountable Care Organization initiative
encourages the sharing of savings among health care institutions and
professionals, and represents the first time that multiple federal agencies,
including the IRS, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Justice, HHS Office
of Inspector General, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have
worked together to create a pathway through the regulatory thicket.

Private insurers are also
encouraging better integration and coordination of care. The Kaiser-Permanente
system has for decades efficiently provided high-quality care, integrating
health care financing and delivery. Integration of delivery and financing
eliminates an entire system of regulation, while integration of professionals
and institutions, with payment for both on a basis other than fee-for-service
eliminates the need for another layer of regulation.

We cannot wholly eliminate the need
for health care regulation. Feasible changes in the way we deliver and finance
health care could substantially reduce the regulatory burden. In particular, we
need to reduce friction at the public-private interface, which can be
accomplished in part by moving away from fee-for-service payment. Although the ACA
imposes additional regulations on our financing system, it also contains within
it initiatives that could in the end significantly reduce regulation. We need to keep making progress
along these paths.

Article source: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/05/neither-public-nor-private-a-health-care-system-muddling-through/257123/

Nashville, Tenn. (PRWEB) May 19, 2012

In an effort to assist Nashville residents in living happy and healthier lifestyles STEPS Fitness has partnered with web development company, Horton Group, to redesign their new website. The site provides visitors with ample information covering their different fitness programs and services ranging from personal fitness training sessions to corporate wellness. In addition, the website promotes healthy lifestyles by connecting visitors to informative and educational materials in the form of blogs, newsletters and links to other useful articles concerning new fitness research.

The new STEPS site is an easier, more attractive portal through which people interested in health management, weight loss and overall fitness can find the right support and solutions to meet their goals. Visitors can access detailed information over their many offerings such as: cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endurance conditioning, healthy body composition, balance and stability. They also cover unique specialty programs like anti-osteoporosis whole body vibration.

“We have a great staff of professional trainers that can work with clients to reach whatever fitness goals they have in mind,” stated STEPS manager and web jockey, Scott Kinney. “If you want to get serious about improving your fitness our new website is a great place to start. The site is an essential part to educating the public about all of the options we offer and our experienced team of fitness professionals.”

Designed on the Drupal platform the layout incorporates various images from the interior of the training center and includes testimonials from current and past customers. “One of the elements the new design works to emphasize is STEPS’ focus on the personalized aspects of their fitness programs,” said Horton web developer Matt Smith. “We wanted visitors to feel like they are getting a firsthand experience when visiting the site.”

President and founder, Irv Rubenstein, Ph.D., also sees the new site as a better venue to promote health and wellness education to a broader public. “Blogging, blurbing on our ‘sticky note,’ and other links within our site enable us to play the role we’ve long sought as Nashville’s premier source of scientifically reliable fitness information.” said Rubenstein.

STEPS was founded in 1986 by Dr. Irv Rubenstein, Exercise Physiologist. Three years later STEPS, Inc. built its first facility, laying the lasting foundation for personal fitness training in Middle Tennessee.

For more information about STEPS Fitness and the different programs they offer contact them at, 615-269-8855 or email stepsfitness(at)gmail(dot)com.

Dr. Irv Rubenstein
STEPS Fitness
615-269-8855
Email Information

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/steps-fitness-launches-website-070409190.html

SAN DIEGO, May 18 (UPI) — Fitness professionals are helping keep U.S. military personnel and their families fit, officials of the American Council on Exercise say.

As a way of encouraging people to live their most fit lives, the American Council on Exercise and President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition are facilitating the fitness component of this national initiative to improve America’s fitness along with Michelle Obama‘s and Jill Biden‘s campaign in support of the U.S. military, “Joining Forces.”

The groups are calling upon the entire fitness industry to collectively pledge at least 1 million hours of fitness services at no cost for use by actively deployed military reservists, National Guard members and their families.

“The American Council on Exercise raised 115,291 hours, which are being redeemed by military personnel and their families in many ways, including working out with certified fitness professionals on safe and effective exercises,” an ACE spokesman said. “Donations can range from hours of free personal training to seats in group fitness classes to fitness products, such as DVDs and equipment.”

Fitness professionals can donate hours while service members and their families can sign up to redeem hours via Joining Forces at www.acefitness.org/joiningforces.

Article source: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2012/05/18/Fitness-pros-help-US-military-stay-fit/UPI-34971337396856/

Whether you’re a couch potato looking to start an exercise routine or a veteran runner looking to cross-train, there’s an app for that.

Our picks of some of the best downloads to get you moving, measure your progress and keep you motivated:

Yoga With Janet Stone ($4.99 iPhone and iPad)

There are a lot of yoga apps out there, but few are as sophisticated as this new release. Unlike some of its rivals that feature photos of asanas or awkward links to blurry how-tos, this app features hours of beautifully lit in-studio video that flows smoothly from one pose to the next.

There are no additional in-app purchases required to get routines. More than 100 “flows,” or practices, are included. And there are 13 meditations for those who want to chill out without hitting the mat.

You choose a focus — strength, flexibility or a series of progressive daily sessions — and specify your level, and the app loads the video and audio to lead you through it. More experienced yogis can create their own custom routines from Stone’s video clips.

You can opt for its yoga music or make your own playlist. Loading the video and audio files can take time, but it’s probably the closest you’ll come to the studio in an app.

Endomondo Pro ($3.99 iPhone and Android)

If you’re like most fitness enthusiasts, you like to know that you’re making progress with each run or ride. GPS tracking apps such as this one are a good way to do that.

You can measure the distance, pace and time of your jog as you map it and monitor an estimate of the number of calories burned in each session. You can set goals in time or calories burned, or just try to beat a previous record, with audio feedback urging you on and letting you know when you hit mile markers.

However, one of the best features of this app is its interval workout setting (preset or customizable) allowing users to set up high-intensity interval training workouts — one of the most time-efficient, heart-healthy types of exercise out there. When it’s time to sprint, its audio coach interrupts your playlist to let you know.

Nike Training Club (free iPhone and Android)

Think of this free app as a virtual boot camp in your pocket. You choose your focus for the day — cardio, toning or bodybuilding work — and specify your level (beginner, intermediate or advanced), and Nike offers a menu of half a dozen 30- to 45-minute total-body workouts. (You can also choose from several 15-minute routines focusing on specific toning or cardio drills for those days when you’re short on time.)

Audio guidance tells you when it’s time to go from one move to the next, and users can access video clips of each move as they are cued. The exercises use standard equipment such as weights or a medicine ball.

It keeps track of what workouts you’ve done and when. As you progress, you unlock exclusive routines from celebrity trainers.

Overall, it’s a great choice for highly motivated fitness enthusiasts. But without a lot of audio coaching and motivation, it might not be as appealing for beginners.

Zombies, Run! ( $7.99 iPhone, coming soon to Android)

Part game, part fitness tool, this immersive app tells a story of “Runner 5″ crashing down into a post apocalyptic zombie-infested landscape. After a short intro audio clip, you walk or run to gather supplies and escape hordes of zombies. There’s no need to touch the screen, unless you want to stop the game.

Occasionally your music playlist is interrupted by a dispatcher at the base camp guiding you through the imaginary terrain and letting you know when the undead are gaining on you and you need to pick up the pace. (The zombie heavy breathing in the background is a nice touch too.)

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-fitness-apps-20120519,0,6881145.story?track=rss

Fanta Mango is the first flavor of Lite Slurpee. Next up: Strawberry Banana and Cherry Lemonade.

It probably says something more about America than it does about 7-Eleven, but starting this month the retailer is rolling out a product that seems right for its time: a sugar-free Slurpee.

Fanta Sugar-Free Mango is this month’s diet flavor. 7-Eleven said it has spent two years coming up with the formula for a simple reason: customer demand.

“For years we’ve gotten calls through our guest relations hot line, ‘When are you going to have a diet Slurpee?’” company spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said. The calls have come not only from the weight-conscious but from diabetics and those with other nutritional issues, she said.

“We worked at that formula for two years, trying to nail the right attributes of the Slurpee. Not just the taste. But you need to have Slurpee all the way to the bottom of the cup, not just water and ice.”

Cost will be the same as a standard Slurpee. Formulas may differ, but for example the Fanta Wild Cherry is 66 calories for 8 ounces. The diet equivalent is 20 calories. It will be available at all participating 6,700 7-Elevens in the U.S.

It’s unknown how many people, if any, drink Slurpees in 8-ounce servings. According to 7-Eleven literature, each year Americans drink enough Slurpees to fill 44 Olympic-sized swimming pools

It also makes business sense to try something new. Americans are drinking fewer soft drinks –  although it’s still about two a day for each person.

“The whole carbonated soft drink category is down,” said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, a trade publication. “Between 2000 and 2011, though the soft drink category has been losing volume, diets grew from 24.7 (percent) of the business to 29.1 percent.”

This marks the first time 7-Eleven has tried its own diet Slurpee recipe. The company previously tried a Diet Pepsi and a Crystal Light Slurpee.

“Those didn’t last long,” Chabris said.

According to company research, Chabris said, “Just under 50 percent say they would drink a diet frozen beverage. Most of that 50 percent would do it occasionally, and there is a small group that would drink only diet.”

Elisa Zied, a registered dietitian, said low-cal, artificially sweetened drinks like the Slurpee aren’t necessarily bad for you, but consumers should mix it up.

“Anything you drink provides fluids for your body and helps hydrate you. A drink is a drink is a drink. But it’s important to look at all of these drinks in terms of how much you are drinking each day.”

Diet drinks can be an issue “when you over-rely on these beverages and you don’t get enough healthy options,” she said.

The Slurpee Lite is sweetened with Splenda. Other flavors coming up: Strawberry Banana and Cherry Lemonade. The company won’t disclose much beyond that, as new flavors are generally kept secret.

“We have committed to flavors through most of the rest of the year,” Chabris said. “We think it has big potential, as long as we make sure it has the same consistency.”

Article source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11745664-7-eleven-serving-up-diet-slurpees-for-the-first-time?chromedomain=todayhealth

“We are extremely concerned over the health impacts that this will have on the most vulnerable members of our society, many of whom will eventually become Canadian citizens,” the letter to Jason Kenney states.

It is signed by the heads of eight prominent health-care groups:

• The Canadian Association of Optometrists
• The Canadian Medical Association
• The Canadian Nurses Association
• The Canadian Association of Social Workers
• The Canadian Dental Association
• The Canadian Pharmacists Association
• The College of Family Physicians of Canada
• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada

Currently, under a long-standing program called the Interim Federal Health Program, the federal government provides basic health care, dental and vision care, medications and medical devices as needed to refugee claimants until they become eligible for coverage under provincial health care.

But under the new government plan, which is due to take effect June 30, some refugee claimants would only be entitled to urgent care; others would be denied all care unless they have a disease that would be a risk to the public, such as tuberculosis.

Download costs to provinces and charities

Kenney said the plan is to ensure refugees don’t get better health care than ordinary Canadians. He said it’s also meant to deter fraudulent refugee claimants from coming to Canada for free health and dental care.

‘The health implications of cutting off individuals who are already receiving necessary health care could be catastrophic.’—Health professionals to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney

The plan would also save the government about $100 million over the next five years, he said.

But the medical professionals say it won’t save money in the long run because people who are sick will only get worse and take up more resources down the line.

They argue the plan will download costs to provincial governments, charitable groups and community organizations, which they say are already struggling to provide adequate health-care services to the overall community.

And they say the move will hurt not only refugees, it will endanger the public.

‘Deleterious effects’

“These changes will have deleterious effects to the public health and safety of all Canadians. For instance, tuberculosis, which is still quite prevalent in various regions of the world, may go unnoticed by health professionals, inevitably putting the greater public in harm’s reach,” the letter states.

The health professionals are also concerned that there is no grandfathering provision. That means people who currently have medications provided to them for serious illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes will be cut off or forced to pay for it themselves.

Doctors in Toronto staged a sit-in to protest proposed cuts to health care for refugees and refugee claimants. (Maureen Brosnahan/CBC)

“The health implications of cutting off individuals who are already receiving necessary health care could be catastrophic,” the health professionals wrote.

Jeff Morrison, director of government relations and public affairs for the Canadian Pharmacists Association, told CBC News in an interview Friday that the government should consider other ways to save money without compromising the health of refugees.

“We would be more than happy to work with them in improving efficiencies in other areas,” he said.

So far, the group has not had a response from Kenney or his office to their letter.

Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/05/18/doctors-refugee-jason-kenney.html

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Article source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2012/05/18/gIQACrGFZU_story.html

Posted at: 05/18/2012 7:25 PM

By: Katie Eldred

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(ABC 6 NEWS) — Minnesota state health officials are reporting a dramatic rise in whooping cough cases. Just in the past few months officials statewide have seen over 670 cases. Some of those in Olmsted County.

Linda Haeussinger of Olmsted County public health is advising parents to watch for symptoms.

“Coughing that may end in a whooping sound, vomiting, or gagging.”

The uncontrollable even violent coughing that comes with pertussis or whooping cough, is troublesome for people of any age. But for infants…

“It’s very dangerous and sometimes deadly,” said Haeussinger.

The illness is extremely easy to spread and that is why Olmsted County public health is concerned. After seeing more than 25 cases of the whooping cough since April.

Parents at George W. Gibbs Elementary School received a letter  this week informing them that a case of pertussis had been reported in their child’s school. The letter advised parents to pay attention to their child’s health and to take them to the doctor if they had been in direct contact with the child infected.

Olmsted County public health says vaccines are the best defense but there are other precautions parent’s should take.

“Vaccines are good protection, but  also a good cough hygiene where kids are coughing into a sleeve and covering the mouth,” said Haeussinger.

With just a month left of school it may be a bad time for students to be sick, but health officials are hoping the timing will help.

“It should help and with people being outside more often, it is less likely to spread.”

Iowa officials are also reporting a rise in whooping cough cases. The health department in Cerro Gordo County says it’s investigated 9 cases in the past week.
 

Article source: http://kaaltv.com/article/stories/S2624500.shtml?cat=10151

In the coming weeks, county election offices and the California secretary of state will determine whether the measure meets the requirement for 504,760 valid signatures of registered voters. The deadline to qualify is June 28.

The initiative is expected to spark an expensive campaign battle over rising health insurance rates, which have angered thousands of California consumers in recent years. This measure seeks to regulate rate increases for health policies sold to individuals and small businesses, which cover about 5 million people. It doesn’t affect plans purchased by larger employers that cover about 15 million Californians.

On Friday, California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones joined with activists from Consumer Watchdog, the Santa Monica group leading the ballot drive, at the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office in Norwalk to drop off boxes of signatures.

“Over 34 states have given the insurance commissioner the authority to reject excessive rates,” Jones said. “This isn’t a novel idea. California is behind the rest of the nation.”

The proposed ballot initiative would give Jones and the California Department of Insurance the same rate-setting authority over health insurance that they already hold over auto and property coverage. Opponents say that the measure would create a costly new bureaucracy at a time of growing state budget deficits, and they contend that it doesn’t address the underlying reasons for rising premiums.

California’s largest health insurers — Anthem Blue Cross, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc., Health Net Inc., Blue Shield of California and United Healthcare Insurance Co. — are leading the opposition by funding a group called Californians Against Higher Healthcare Costs. The coalition also draws support from doctors, hospitals and various business groups.

“We all agree that controlling healthcare costs is critical, but this flawed measure will do nothing to address the underlying costs driving healthcare premiums and will ultimately limit patients’ access to care,” said Don Crane, chief executive of the California Assn. of Physician Groups.

chad.terhune@latimes.com

Article source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0519-health-insure-ballot-20120519,0,5702772.story

CHICAGO, May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Chicagoland-based Charter Fitness is opening its newest club in Mokena, IL. Charter Fitness of Mokena is located at 19816 La Grange Rd, Next to Brookhaven Marketplace, and is scheduled to open late summer of 2012.  The new location boasts 13,000 square feet of updated, spacious interior, over 75 pieces of cardio equipment, more strength machines, a private personal training studio, expanded free weight area, bigger and nicer locker rooms, and more parking.

“We’re very happy to be opening Charter Fitness of Mokena and proud to be part of the community. Charter Fitness of Mokena is going to be a great place to get fit and healthy.  We invite everyone to come check us out,” said Dan Collins, Charter Fitness’ Director of Sales.

Free Trial Memberships to the new Charter Fitness of Mokena are available on-line at http://www.CharterFitness.com.

Charter Fitness Franchising LLC was recently approved to franchise its Charter Fitness Health Club brand nationally. The Company recently converted 38 Cardinal Fitness locations in Chicago, downstate Illinois and Northwest Indiana to the Charter Fitness brand, increasing the number of clubs to over 40 in six states. It is now the largest health club business in the Chicago, IL metropolitan area, and expects to hire 200 employees over the coming months.

About Charter Fitness Franchising LLC

Based in Orland Park, IL, Charter Fitness Franchising LLC is a health club franchise with over 40 locations in six states.  Charter Fitness health clubs offer members a clean, comfortable and convenient workout experience with best-in-class fitness equipment for as low as $10 per month. Charter Fitness strongly believes in community involvement and is a member of the International Health Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA).  http://www.CharterFitness.com

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/charter-fitness-open-13-000-200000155.html

Vendors offer organically grown produce at the Union Square farmers market in New York City.

Renate Raymond has encountered her fair share of organic food snobs, but a recent trip to a Seattle market left her feeling like she’d stumbled onto the set of “Portlandia.“

“I stopped at a market to get a fruit platter for a movie night with friends but I couldn’t find one so I asked the produce guy,” says the 40-year-old arts administrator from Seattle. “And he was like, ‘If you want fruit platters, go to Safeway. We’re organic.’ I finally bought a small cake and some strawberries and then at the check stand, the guy was like ‘You didn’t bring your own bag? I need to charge you if you didn’t bring your own bag.’ It was like a ‘Portlandia skit.’ They were so snotty and arrogant.”

As it turns out, new research has determined that a judgmental attitude may just go hand in hand with exposure to organic foods. In fact, a new study published this week in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science, has found that organic food may just make people act a bit like jerks.

“There’s a line of research showing that when people can pat themselves on the back for their moral behavior, they can become self-righteous,” says author Kendall Eskine, assistant professor of  the department of psychological sciences at Loyola University in New Orleans. “I’ve noticed a lot of organic foods are marketed with moral terminology, like Honest Tea, and wondered if you exposed people to organic food, if it would make them pat themselves on the back for their moral and environmental choices. I wondered if  they would be more altruistic or not.”

To find out, Eskine and his team divided 60 people into three groups. One group was shown pictures of clearly labeled organic food, like apples and spinach. Another group was shown comfort foods such as brownies and cookies. And a third group — the controls — were shown non-organic, non-comfort foods like rice, mustard and oatmeal. After viewing the pictures, each person was then asked to read a series of vignettes describing moral transgressions.

“One vignette was about second cousins having sex,” says Eskine. “Another was about a lawyer on the prowl in an ER trying to get people to sue for their injuries. Then the groups made moral judgments on a scale from one to seven.”

In another phase of the study, the three groups were asked to volunteer for a (fictitious) study, with each person writing down the amount of time — from zero to 30 minutes — that they would be willing to volunteer.

The results did not bode well for the organic folks.

“We found that the organic people judged much harder compared to the control or comfort food groups,” says Eskine. “On a scale of 1 to 7, the organic people were like 5.5 while the controls were about a 5 and the comfort food people were like a 4.89.”

When it came to helping out a needy stranger, the organic people also proved to be more selfish, volunteering only 13 minutes as compared to 19 minutes (for controls) and 24 minutes (for comfort food folks).

“There’s something about being exposed to organic food that made them feel better about themselves,” says Eskine. “And that made them kind of jerks a little bit, I guess.”

Why does eating better make us act worse? Eskine says it probably has to do with what he calls “moral licensing.”

“People may feel like they’ve done their good deed,” he says. “That they have permission, or license, to act unethically later on. It’s like when you go to the gym and run a few miles and you feel good about yourself, so you eat a candy bar.”

Eskine says he was surprised by the findings (“You’d think eating organic would make you feel elevated and want to pay it forward,” he says) and hopes to do additional studies that look at conditions that might prompt people to act differently.

Until then, organic eaters may want to rein in those self-righteous stink-eyes.

“At my local grocery, I sometimes catch organic eyes gazing into my grocery cart and scowling,” says Sue Frause, a 61-year-old freelance writer/photographer from Whidbey Island. “So I’ll often toss in really bad foods just to get them even more riled up.”

Related: 

• To speed weight loss, try this yummy protein breakfast
• Oversharing on Facebook as satisfying as sex? 
• The reason you can always find room for dessert

Article source: http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/18/11737146-does-organic-food-turn-people-into-jerks

Raising levels of “good” cholesterol may not be so good for you, after all. Doctors have long preached that HDL cholesterol could potentially protect against heart disease, while LDL cholesterol raises the risk of heart problems. A new study, published Wednesday in the Lancet, challenges that theory. Researchers examined the health of more than 100,000 people, and found that those with genes that boosted their HDL did not have a lowered risk of heart attacks. If HDL were indeed protective, those with genes causing higher levels should have had less heart disease, the study authors theorize. “The current study tells us that when it comes to HDL we should seriously consider going back to the drawing board, in this case meaning back to the laboratory,” Michael Lauer, director of the division of cardiovascular sciences at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, told The New York Times. “We need to encourage basic laboratory scientists to figure out where HDL fits in the puzzle—just what exactly it is a marker for.” 

• 14 Heart Numbers Everyone Should Know
• Best Heart-Healthy Diets

9 Best Foods for Your Skin

You are what you eat? Maybe not, but you do look the way you eat. Putting your best face forward starts with putting the right ingredients in your mouth. “The same foods that are good for your health are good for your skin,” says Valori Treloar, a dermatologist based in Newton, Mass. “Your skin is just the outside part of your body.”

Want a healthy, glowing complexion? Load up on nutritious meals and snacks, like sweet potatoes, mangoes, and canned tuna. Experts say these foods will do as much for your appearance as your inner health. Here are nine skin-boosting choices:

1. Tomatoes. They’re full of lycopene, a phytochemical that provides red pigment and health benefits. Lycopene helps eliminate skin-aging free radicals caused by ultraviolet rays—in other words, protecting against sun damage. To reap the most benefits, heat them up: A half-cup of cooked tomatoes, for example, packs 16 milligrams of lycopene. A daily dose coupled with sunscreen will help block the burn.

2. Mangoes, papaya, and apricots. Got that washed-out look? Load up on some fruit. Mangoes, papaya, and apricots are full of pigments called carotenoids, which are stored in the layer of fat directly beneath the skin and can improve color. “They peek through, giving you a rosy glow,” says registered dietitian Karen Ansel, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and co-author of The Calendar Diet: A Month by Month Guide to Losing Weight While Living Your Life.

3. Cocoa powder. Flavonals, the antioxidants in dark chocolate, reduce roughness in the skin and protect against sun damage. A study published in 2006 in the Journal of Nutrition found that women who drank cocoa fortified with 326 milligrams of flavonals a day had better skin texture and stronger resistance to UV rays than those who didn’t get as much of the antioxidants. Just a few ounces a day—or a standard Hershey’s Dark Chocolate bar—is sufficient. Another tasty way to get enough? Spoon some cocoa powder into your morning coffee, Ansel suggests. [Read more: 9 Best Foods for Your Skin]

• Best Foods to Eat for Your Mood—and a Few Bad Ones
• Food and Mood: 6 Ways Your Diet Affects How You Feel

Is a Gluten-Free Diet Smart for Weight Loss?

Miley Cyrus is looking leaner than ever these days, fueling mass speculation of an eating disorder. Last month, she took to Twitter to defend her slim physique: “For everyone calling me anorexic, I have a gluten and lactose allergy. It’s not about weight, it’s about health. Gluten is crapppp anyway!”

While Cyrus’ weight loss may be due to a legitimate food allergy, scads of other celebrities and non-famous folks alike are adopting a gluten-free diet—for weight reasons, not health. “It’s definitely trendy now. Everyone is talking about it,” says Elisabetta Politi, nutrition director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, N.C. And the food industry is apparently cashing in on the trend, too: By 2015, sales of gluten-free foods and beverages are expected to hit $5 billion, according to Packaged Facts, a market research firm. “I see the positive side of being more aware of gluten and trying not to overdo it,” says Politi, “but I don’t think it’s a good way to lose weight.”

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, as well as many common food additives. It gives dough elasticity and baked goods their chewiness. (It’s found in pizza, beer, burgers, and pancakes, for example.) Those who have celiac disease—caused by an overactive immune response to gluten in the small intestine—are encouraged to go gluten-free to avoid digestive symptoms like pain and diarrhea, and even permanent intestinal damage or malnutrition. There’s no cure or medication other than a gluten-free diet. About 1 percent of the population suffers from celiac and about 10 percent have a less specific sensitivity, according to the Mayo Clinic. [Read more: Is a Gluten-Free Diet Smart for Weight Loss?] 

• 7 Wacky Celebrity Diets and Weight-Loss Tricks
• Best Diets Overall

 Angela Haupt is a health reporter for U.S. News World Report. You can follow her on Twitter or reach her at ahaupt@usnews.com. 

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Article source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/articles/2012/05/18/health-buzz-good-cholesterol-may-not-be-that-good-for-you

By Chelsea Conaboy, Globe Staff

Massachusetts senators, in a near-consensus vote yesterday, passed their version of a bill to control the growth of health care costs in the state. The bill calls for bringing the rate of growth of health care costs more in line with growth of the overall state economy.

Lawmakers debated the bill, and 265 amendments, for two days, reported Shannon Young for the Associated Press:

Among the amendments senators passed were the creation of a fund to improve and expand the ability of certain community hospitals to better serve those in need. Other changes to the legislation call for establishing both a residency grant program to finance training of primary care providers at community health centers, and a commission to study the value of graduate medical education in the state and recommend a sustainable model for funding it.

During the debate, Senator Harriette Chandler, Democrat of Worcester, praised the bill, which builds on the 2006 landmark universal health care law signed by Mitt Romney, then governor. Chandler said the country is watching to see what will happen in Massachusetts, as far as health care is concerned.

“It’s a brilliant bill because it’s an infrastructure bill. It’s a health care payment infrastructure bill, which provides us with a long-run, long-term approach to dealing with health care,’’ she said.

Matt Murphy of the State House News Service lays out a major point of tension between the Senate’s bill and a cost containment plan now being considered by the House:

The bill now moves to the House where leaders have already detailed their own version of a bill that differs from the Senate in several key areas, including the House’s proposal for a luxury tax on high-cost hospitals whose price variations from lower-cost community hospitals cannot be justified.

Asked if she would entertain the luxury tax in eventual negotiations with the House, Murray said, “No.�

Senate leadership celebrated the bill’s passage. President Therese Murray said in a statement that, by controlling health costs, the bill will “remove a major roadblock� to long-term job creation and growth in other sectors in the state, such as education. As Martha Bebinger of WBUR explains, in her comprehensive coverage of the debate, it has its critics:

“The amendments, as I watch them, many of them really do add to the cost rather than contain the cost of health care,� said Bill Vernon, with the National Federation of Independent Businesses in Massachusetts.

Vernon is skeptical that the bill, with new fees, boards and commissions, will save the estimated $150 billion over 15 years.

“I have a very hard time believing that it’s actually going to reduce the cost of health care for small businesses and the people who work there,� Vernon said.