Put spring in your step with a walking Rx

Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.

With so much attention these days being focused on the overprescription of meds — from opioids (around 32 percent of prescriptions are used inappropriately) to antibiotics (at least 30 percent are unnecessary, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) — it’s nice to find one prescription that simply cannot be overprescribed; in fact, upping your dosage might be good for you! That prescription is for walking.

A recent Canadian study of 364 patients (66 percent of the volunteers had Type 2 diabetes, and 90 percent had hypertension) uncovered the power of getting an actual written prescription for walking! Seventy-four doctors wrote out the instructions to their patients: Get a pedometer and increase how much you usually walk by 3,000 steps a day. Lo and behold! Those folks did step up their daily walking by 20 percent and were rewarded with improved blood sugar levels, lowered insulin resistance and reduced hypertension.

In an Australian study, folks older than 55 who put in an extra 4,300 steps a day saw a 30 percent lower need for hospital care than those who didn’t. And at the Cleveland Clinic, postheart-attack cardio rehab puts walking at the top of the to-do list.

So ask your doc for a walking Rx; get a pedometer (your smartphone has one); set a monthly stepsper-day-goal that increases over time. Make sure you have feet-lovin’ walking shoes; and enlist a walking buddy. You’re aiming for 10,000 total steps a day or the equivalent.

You’ve been served … titanium dioxide?!

In 2008’s “Pineapple Express,” Seth Rogen plays a hapless process server who is severely (and sometimes humorously) handicapped by the smoky fog that envelops him as he inhales brand-name reefer called (oh, wow, duh) Pineapple Express. His misadventures make it clear that process-serving is as hazardous to his health as eating heart-stopping, mindfogging and life-threatening processed food can be to yours.

You know that nutriscarce, additive-loaded, processed and packaged foods often contain trans fats (especially snacks and baked goods), added sugars and syrups, artificial colors, preservatives and emulsifiers that boost inflammation, alter gut bacteria and make your RealAge older. That’s how they contribute to the current epidemic of chronic conditions such as diabetes, dementia, arthritis, low back pain and heart disease.

But those aren’t the only risky additives. A lab study out of Binghamton University in New York found that nanoparticles of an incredibly common addition to toothpaste, gum, candies, bread, mayo and skim milk can do similar damage — and it’s only there to make the food (or your teeth) look less gray!

Day-after-day exposure to titanium dioxide nanoparticles, although not immediately toxic, damages the little villi that line your intestine. That makes iron, zinc and fatty acids more difficult to absorb, dings essential enzyme functions and boosts inflammatory signals.

Want a younger RealAge? Opt for fresh, whole foods that YOU cook at home! Go for five to nine servings of produce daily; lean proteins; healthy fats. And read ingredient labels, so that when you have a choice, you can avoid ingesting these nanodisruptors.

Question: I’m thinking about using one of those mail-in genetics tests. Are they reliable? — Gini W., Brooklyn, New York

Answer: You didn’t say why you wanted a mailorder genetic test done: To find out your ancestry? To determine paternity? To find out if you are at risk for, or may pass on, any inherited conditions? The wisdom of a mail-in test depends on the info you hope to get from it and what you plan to do with it.

For ancestry: Variations in your DNA can reveal where your ancestors might have come from and with whom they might have comingled. The most inclusive test (works on men and women) is single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) testing: A large number of your SNPs (pronounced snips) are identified and compared with the SNPs of lots of other folks to determine your racial and/or ethnic background. It’s even possible to see how much of the Neanderthal genome still lives on in you!

Oops! Results can change from one service to another depending on the DNA database they use for comparison. Home genetic ancestry tests are not FDAregulated.

For paternity: These saliva or cheek swabs use around 15 markers to compare a child and a man’s DNA, so that’s pretty good. But it takes Mom, Dad and the child to raise the test’s reliability to 99.9 percent.

Oops! Labs analyzing home samples aren’t necessarily accredited or regulated; some do not do duplicate tests to verify results; and sample errors can happen with contamination in collection, shipping or analysis.

To assess disease risk: Mail-order DNA tests evaluate your potential risk for genetically transmitted diseases, such as some forms of breast cancer or sicklecell anemia.