A new study published in January’s Issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine is demonstrating that the ratio of sodium to potassium may be more important than the amount of sodium or potassium alone.
Senior author Dr. Paul Whelton from Loyloa University Health System was quoted as saying:
There isn’t as much focus on potassium, but potassium seems to be effective in lowering blood pressure and the combination of a higher intake of potassium and lower consumption of sodium seems to be more effective than either on its own in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Potassium Rich Foods
In general, the more processed a food is, the more sodium and less potassium a food has. The diagram from the textbook Understanding Nutrition shows the differences in how much sodium vs. potassium are in food that has been processed or food that has not been processed.
One way of getting plenty of potassium is to be sure to eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. Some examples of Potassium Rich foods:
One Banana – 400 mg Potassium
One Potato – 900 mg Potassium
One cup Spinach – 950 mg Potassium
1/2 cup Raisins – 600 mg Potassium
8 ounces (one cup) Orange Juice – 500 mg Potassium
While not normally a Nutrition topic, the eBook Living with Loss is a wellness topic. This eBook is a good resource for improving or maintaining wellness in the face of a loss, a death or a significant life changing event.
The Living with Loss By Understanding Grief eBook is a complementary resource that I helped write, design, create and get published as part of the Tuolumne County Working Group for Loss & Grief Education and Support.
The booklet was written by Dr. Dyer in 2008 with input from Working Group Members which included a cross section of those interested in Grief and Loss within Tuolumne County.
Download a copy of the eBook by clicking on the eBook image at the left or on the image in the right side bar.
You can find out more about the Living with Loss eBook and even view a smaller version of it on the Grief, Loss and Bereavement Blog.
I’ve mentioned in lecture I believe we’re eventually going to be viewing food more like a drug; this news report has a bit of with a big of a lecture by Dr. Russell Blaylock on Nutrition & Behavior.
An interesting news report that takes a look at the effect of Sugar, Alcohol and Sweeteners and how these may explain children’s behavior, poor performance, criminal behavior and perhaps even the growing numbers of Alzheimer’s patients.
You can find out more about Dr. Blaylock’s lecture at www.atavistik.com.
The Environment Working Groups Guide is now in its 5th edition. It features the 12 fruits and veggies with the most and least pesticides so you’ll know which ones to buy organic, and which conventionally-grown ones are okay when organic isn’t available.
Note: The Environmental Working Group ranked a total of 44 different fruits and vegetables but grapes are listed twice because they looked at both domestic and imported samples.
Another example of the truth being stretched, or misrepresented in advertising and where the buyer must beware.
Federal health regulators reprimanded Coca-Cola for placing inappropriate nutritional claims on its Diet Coke Plus soft drink. The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to the company, objecting to the product’s labeling, which describes the drink as “Diet Coke with Vitamins and Minerals.”
The FDA has pointed out that the Diet Coke Plus is misbranded. Federal regulators said the beverage does not have enough nutrients to justify the use of the word “plus” in its name.
According to the regulations, foods labeled “plus” must have at least 10 percent more nutrients than comparable products.
Additionally, the FDA said it is inappropriate to add extra nutrients to “snack foods such as carbonated beverages.”
December 1, 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of celebrating World AIDS Day, a day set aside to recognize the disease that has killed over 25 million since it was identified in 1981.
The focus on this 20th anniversary is how the response to AIDS has greatly changed, some for the positive, but an anniversary provides an opportunity to highlight how much more still needs to be done.
Take the Test. Take Control.
A unique campaign has been developed using text messaging to promote HIV testing.
Mobile phone users can send a text message with their zip code to “KNOWIT” (566948). Within seconds, they will receive a text message identifying an HIV testing site near them.
This mobile phone service connects users with CDC’s testing database found at www.HIVtest.org.
Supersize Me is available for you to watch on Google Video. If the video is not showing up below, click on the Supersize Me link or Google for it on Google Videos.
I was able to find a short clip about a reporter who decided to become a volunteer drinker in a field sobriety test in this news report from 2007, on “How Much is Too Much?”
His report shows some of the sobriety checks done by police officers to determine if someone has had too much to drink.
A study published in the The Journal of Law and Economics by researchers at the City University of New York is showing what many parents and teachers already knew to be true, that television ads are contributing to childhood obesity.
In a research study supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases researchers Chou, Rashad and Grossman estimated that the effects of television fast-food restaurant advertising on children and adolescents are playing a role with children being overweight.
These researches predict that a ban on fast-food restaurant advertising would reduce the number of overweight children ages 3–11 in a fixed population by 18 percent and would reduce the number of overweight adolescents ages 12–18 by 14 percent.
In addition, eliminating the tax deductibility of junk food advertising would produce more declines of between 5 and 7 percent in these outcomes.
With estimates that children see over 30,000 television commercials a year and a third of them are for junk food, it is likely that eliminating junk food ads would go a long way in helping manage the advertising world’s contribution to promoting childhood obesity.
These findings go along with earlier ones conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation which found that “The vast majority of the foods that kids see advertised on television today are for products that nutritionists would tell us they need to be eating less of, not more of, if we’re going to get a handle on childhood obesity.”
A new study published in January’s Issue of the 
Another example of the truth being stretched, or misrepresented in advertising and where the buyer must beware.
A study published in the The Journal of Law and Economics by researchers at the City University of New York is showing what many parents and teachers already knew to be true, that television ads are contributing to childhood obesity.
