Stopping bad influence of kiddie influencers
Many YouTube shows targeting kids with junkfood marketing
In 1965, Soupy Sales was suspended for two weeks from his children’s TV show for telling kids to go to their parents’ wallets and take out funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. presidents and mail them to him. Thousands of dollars poured in!
In contrast, today’s celebrities, who may negatively influence kids’ behaviours, are often kids themselves! And they get big bucks in return. The highest-paid YouTube influencer last year was an eight-year-old, who earned $26 million.
According to a study in the journal Pediatrics, youngsters from 3 to 14 whose parents post entertaining videos of them, aren’t just delivering bad jokes with unexpected consequences; they’re part of a carefully crafted marketing push for junk food that targets young kids.
The New York University researchers found that
YouTube “shows” hosted by kids have garnered more than one billion views, and almost half promote food and drinks — more than 90 per cent of which are fast foods, candies, soda or fast-food toys.
The persuasive juxtaposition of adorable kids and lousy food promotes obesity: “Numerous studies have shown that children who see food ads consume more calories than children who see non-food ads,” explains the study’s senior author.
So don’t plop your child down in front of YouTube kids’ shows without seeing what products they’re pushing, and talk to your youngster about what makes certain foods unhealthy. These days, to raise a smart consumer — and a healthy child — you have to start talking about nutrition and how to evaluate media early and often.
Upping your cancer-fighting powers
Christina Applegate was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008, at age 36. She had a double mastectomy and has been cancer-free since then. One reason, according to a Danish lab study published in eLife, may be her exercise routine. The vegetarian actress and breast cancer activist does a combination of cardio, weight training and a core workout for at least two hours a day, five days a week.
According to the researchers, consistent physical activity boosts the ability of the immune system’s cytotoxic T cells (specialized white blood cells) to KO cancer cells. It does that by increasing circulating levels of naturally occurring molecules and metabolites that are produced in muscle while you are working out. They help activate cancerfighting immune cells. This appears to slow tumour growth and may prevent recurrence of cancer.
If you are one of the estimated 1.8 million Americans diagnosed with cancer this year, you can do a great deal to make your fight against the disease more effective. Making sure you — with the advice of your doctors — begin a daily workout routine is one important way.
Another self-help tool: adopting an anti-inflammatory diet, free of red and processed meats and added sugars and syrups, and loaded with seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies daily. It’s estimated that up to 33 per cent of cancer cases could be prevented with adoption of such a healthful diet. And a meta-study in the journal Nutrients found that the Mediterranean diet appears to promote survival after cancer diagnosis.
Two new ways aspirin may extend your life
Since aspirin became widely available in the late 1800s, it’s been advocated for use in many odd ways, from birth control to prolonging the life of a Christmas tree. Fortunately, the modern science behind this common pain reliever’s powers is far more reliable — and evergrowing.
Research suggests that this heartfriendly medication can also lower your risk of certain types of cancer, and the latest research published in Oncotarget on breast cancer is especially promising. In an analysis of 13 existing studies that involved more than 850,000 women, those who took aspirin for five years cut their risk of breast cancer 14 per cent, for 10 years by 27 per cent and for 20 years by 46 per cent. The optimal dose, suggest the researchers, may be 325 mg daily, two to seven times a week. Taking it five times weekly showed a three per cent reduction and 20 times, a 10 per cent cut.
Another new insight into aspirin’s powers was published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. It reveals that patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who received aspirin (usually 81 mg) within 24 hours of admission or within seven days prior to admission are less likely to be admitted to the ICU, put on a ventilator or die (a 47 per cent decrease in that risk) than hospitalized COVID patients who aren’t taking the anti-inflammatory and bloodclot-preventing medication.
One reminder: Take aspirin with a glass of warm water before and after to help minimize gastro problems or bleeding. Aspirin blocks hormones that protect your stomach lining, so you don’t want the pill to land on vulnerable tissue.
Cool it! The benefits of putting out the flame
At the end of October, more than 5,600 firefighters continued to battle 22 wildfires in California — on the 28th alone, they responded to 29 blazes. You can bet they wished it were as easy to dampen the destructive power of those flames as it is to tamp down inflammation and resulting health hazards in your body!
New research from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health looked at data on over 200,000 people spanning 32 years. It shows that compared to eating an inflammation-boosting diet of refined sugars and grains, fried foods, sodas and other highly processed foods, a diet packed with phytonutrients cools inflammation and makes your risk of heart disease 46 per cent lower — and stroke 29 per cent lower — than it is for folks who fire up with those unhealthy foods.
The researchers, writing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, advocate a diet loaded with green leafy vegetables like kale, spinach, cabbage and arugula; yellow and orange vegetables like pumpkin, yellow peppers, some beans and carrots; whole grains; and coffee, tea and wine. Another great antiinflammatory, heart-loving trick: eating about one to two ounces of walnuts daily. A new two-year Spanish study in the same journal found that it significantly reduced levels of six out of 10 inflammatory biomarkers tested.
Bonus: Launch your firefighting efforts with a real heart-warming — but antiinflammatory — winter treat: When Way Golden Milk, made with almond and hemp milks, plus ginger, vanilla, cinnamon, turmeric, almond butter and more. Get the recipe in the “What to Eat When Cookbook.”
Even one soft drink a day is too much
Two living presidents are avowed diet-soda fanatics. Bill Clinton is so identified with the beverage that he reportedly placed a Diet Coke, along with other items, in a time capsule at his official presidential library. And reports say Donald Trump downs as many as 12 Diet Cokes a day.
Now, we don’t know what it would do for governing if chief executives put down the can of cola, but we do know what it would do for their health. New research confirms that even one artificially sweetened or sugary soft drink per day is too much because, in addition to contributing to weight gain
(yes it does!), it can raise the risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, published in the Journal of the American
College of Cardiology, reviewed 10 years’ worth of data on more than 100,000 adults. Those who drank artificially sweetened beverages regularly had a 20 per cent higher incidence of cardiovascular disease.
One reason: The body reacts to artificial sweeteners in the same way it does to refined sugar, raising the risk of metabolic syndrome — a collection of disorders that includes abdominal obesity; elevated blood pressure, glucose and triglycerides; and low healthy HDL cholesterol — and increasing your risk for heart woes.
So, stick with water; if you miss the bubbles, go for seltzer. You can add a squeeze of citrus for extra zing or throw in a few muddled berries for flavour. After time, your taste buds will adjust. Dr. Mike, who kicked a serious diet cola habit, can testify to that.