Heatdangersneedtobeaddressed
During Arizona’s population boom in the 1990s (about 1.5 million new inhabitants) a morning drive-time radio host in Phoenix told his listening public that if they were parking their car outside (temps were heading to 100 plus), put a package of microwavable popcorn on the dashboard. On the way home from work they’d have freshly popped corn.
That’s how hot it can get in a parked car — and why every year so far in the 21st century between 30 and 60 U.S. children have died from the heat after being left unattended in a parked car.
Those upsetting stats prompted researchers to do a study that “not only quantifies temperature differences inside vehicles parked in the sun ... but it also makes clear that even parking a vehicle in the shade can be lethal to a small child.”
They found that in Tempe, Arizona (a Phoenix suburb), when daytime temperatures went to 95 degrees, after one hour — their estimated time for a shopping trip — temperatures inside a car reached 115 F, seats were 124 F, steering wheels 127 F and dashboards 156 F. Even in vehicles parked in the shade, cabin temps were above 100 F. The researchers said a child (depending on height and weight) generally will suffer heatstroke when core body temperature reaches 104 F, so there’s no time that’s safe to leave little ones in the car.
BREATHE EASIER WITH ANTHOCYANIN FLAVONOIDS
Free diving is the sport of diving without oxygen tanks to extreme depths. The record currently is 253.2 metres (831 feet) set by Herbert Nitsch in 2012. (The record for holding your breath underwater is nine minutes for women, and 11 minutes for men.)
Not many people can boast of such amazing lung power, but new research is showing that you may be able to maintain healthy lungs into your old age by eating more fruits and vegetables, because of a flavonoid called anthocyanin.
We’ve known for some time that flavonoids have beneficial polyphenol and anti-inflammatory properties. But anthocyanins, found in red and black raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, plums and black currants seem to have speedy and direct antiinflammatory properties for the lungs. For people with COPD, anthocyanins seem to reduce mucus and inflammation.
Analyzing data from the European Community Respiratory Health Surveys (2002-2012), researchers measured how strongly folks could exhale in one second and how forcefully folks could exhale completely after a deep breath. What they found was a correlation between a slower rate of lung function decline and a higher rate of dietary intake of anthocyanin flavonoids. Current smokers didn’t see the benefits. Ex-smokers did see them, but not as much those who had never smoked.
DIAL IT BACK
Mr. Rogers told kids who watched his PBS TV show (1968 to 2001) that they were special and he liked them just the way they were. These days, kids are thrown into a less gentle world — Common Sense Media estimates that 90 per cent of movies, 68 per cent of video games (kids start playing them around age four) and 60 per cent of TV shows depict violent acts.
Add to that the fact that many parents opt for interacting with their smartphones over paying attention to their child. Half of parents in one survey said they ignore their kids in favour of their phone at least three times a day. Clearly, that’s what led a second-grader to write the following for a class assignment: “If I had to tell you what invention I don’t like, I would say that I don’t like the phone. I don’t like the phone because my panert (sic) are on their phone every day. A phone is sometimes a really bad habet (sic). I hate my mom’s phone and I wish she never had one.”
If you’re battling digital addictions (choosing your phone over your child is a sure sign) chances are you’re also upset. A study in Neuro Regulation found that digital addiction can trigger anxiety and loneliness.
EAT YOUR TREE NUTS
When European missionaries headed into the jungles of West Papua in Indonesia in 1974, they discovered a tribe of cannibalistic people living in trees (different “floors” were designated depending on how well various members of the group got along). That contact is thought to be the first time the Korowai became aware that other humans existed.
But for centuries many tribes have known that tree nuts (the fruit of trees, not those folks in the branches!) are a great source of nutrition. One Israeli archeological dig found evidence that 780,000 years ago our early relatives ate wild almonds and two varieties of acorns and pistachios!
Almonds, cashews, pine nuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and especially walnuts can lower your risk of heart disease and boost brain function (only walnuts have appreciable amounts of omega-3’s). Now we know that nuts also can help people with non-insulindependent Type 2 diabetes control their glucose levels.
For a recent study published in Diabetologia, researchers divided 117 adults with diabetes into three groups: One ate half a cup of tree nuts and peanuts daily; another group had a quarter cup of those nuts and part of a whole-wheat muffin daily; and the last group had a whole-wheat muffin and no nuts each day. After three months, those who’d eaten the most nuts had better glucose control and lower levels of lousy LDL cholesterol.
So, for better glycemic control, add nuts to your diet (skip the muffins).