Parents, know how to sniff out JUULS
JUUL has created an e-cigarette the size of a flash drive (it charges in a USB port) that’s got 14-year-olds vaping, even in school! JUULS are the latest e-cigarette craze, and a survey by Truth Initiative found that almost 20 percent of teens reported seeing a student “JUUL” at school.
Three out of four kids get them by strolling into a retail outlet and putting their money down, no questions asked! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that from 2016-17, sales increased 641 percent from 2.2 million devices to 16.2 million.
The U.S. surgeon general says they are powerfully addictive and pose a threat to public health because they are linked to a variety of health woes, including heart disease and cancer.
So parents, go to the JUUL website and get familiar with these deceptive-looking pods; they resemble something digital. And talk to your children about JUUL’S dangers. Some people believe they’re designed to convert kids to cigarettes or other tobacco products.
Containing the GERD gremlin
“No food after midnight!” That was one of the “rules” for avoiding trouble that downand-out Rand (Hoyt Axton) was given when he bought an extraterrestrial fuzzball named Gizmo in the 1984 comedy-horror film “Gremlins.” Unfortunately, the rule was broken (along with “don’t get them wet or they reproduce”) and the result was an onslaught of ravenous, destructive creatures.
For a lot of folks, violating the “no late meals” rule triggers nightmares of the digestive kind. Roughly 20 percent of Americans contend with gastroesophageal reflux disease, also called acid reflux, or GERD. It’s caused by a weakening of the lower esophageal sphincter muscle. Instead of closing after you swallow food or liquid, it flaps open, allowing stomach acid to flow upward, causing burning and pain along the esophagus.
According to a study that looked at 513 GERD sufferers, eating a big dinner in the evening, or only eating once or twice a day, was a major cause; so was drinking peppermint tea daily and eating fatty, fried, spicy, sweet and sour foods. We recommend that you enjoy your largest meal at breakfast or noontime, and stick with plant-based, unprocessed foods and lean proteins.
For your holiday dinners, don’t deep-fry that turkey, and plan on early afternoon for feasting. That’ll help keep the gremlin GERD out of your house!
Email questions for Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen to youdocsdaily@sharecare. com.