Las Vegas Review-Journal

Benefits of the husk of the pit

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Since he made the jump from soap operas to movies, there’s been some debate about which of Brad Pitt’s 63 movies are the worst. “Johnny Suede” and “Cool World” may be the two least memorable, but a sure-fire throwaway is 2004’s “Troy.” Roberteber­t.com gave it two stars, saying , “Achilles is not a character he (B.P.) inhabits comfortabl­y.” But fortunatel­y for us, most

Brad Pitt movies (“Thelma & Louise,” “The Big Short,” etc.,) are worth holding on to. And that’s true too of the often-discarded but actually valuable avocado pit.

You probably know that an avocado’s creamy flesh contains good-for-you monounsatu­rated fats, including odd-numbered omega fatty acids, that reduce lousy LDL cholestero­l, and is rich in vitamin C, potassium and vitamin E. But chances are you, like the rest of the country, have overlooked the health benefits crammed into the pit and its brown, papery husk.

In South America, the pit, loaded with antioxidan­ts, has been used for generation­s to treat inflammati­on, hypertensi­on, cardiovasc­ular disease and diabetes.

The husk of the pit is even more beneficial — it contains a goldmine of more than 130 nutritious compounds in its oil and wax.

Coughing hard enough to make you vomit? Big coughs and big solutions

Last spring, Australian MP Graham Perrett, was watching an episode of “Veep” while eating sushi. Laughing at a scene in which Congressma­n Jonah Ryan is caught shaving his head to fake having cancer, he inhaled a clump of rice and began to cough violently. “I kind of stumbled forward and knocked my head on the corner of the kitchen cabinet,” he told Buzzfeed. His wife found him unconsciou­s on the ground. “I must have been out for only a few seconds,” he reported, “because, when I came to, I was still laughing at Jonah.”

Funny incident , but a severe cough is usually no laughing matter. It can get so violent and persistent that it triggers vomiting, cracked ribs or bleeding. Possible causes:

1. Smoking (anything) traumatize­s airways and can cause persistent, violent coughing. Go to clevelandc­linic.org for a quit plan.

2. A chronic, dry cough can sometimes be the only symptom of asthma . Get a diagnosis and a treatment plan before you have a breath-stopping attack.

3. Bronchitis, pneumonia or whooping cough can produce heavy coughing, gagging and vomiting.

Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdai­ly@sharecare. com.

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