Lactoseintolerancerisingaspopulationages
We don’t recommend eating a lot of cheese, because it’s loaded with saturated fats and proteins that may cause changes in your gut microbiome and stimulate inflammation. But we also know that it’s a food that inspires passionate opinion based on texture, taste and smell. Apparently the author James Joyce was among those who find cheese to be, well, far too cheesy. He once said: “A corpse is meat gone bad ... and what’s cheese? Corpse of milk.” Highly lactose intolerant, you might say!
These days, as the population ages, more and more people are developing the condition. The sale of lactose-free products in the U.S. is expected to double from 2016 to 2020 and reach revenues of $700 million annually. “Lactose intolerance” means you’re unable to fully digest the sugar (lactose) in milk, and you end up with potentially severe diarrhea, gas and bloating. So cheese, yogurt and milk chocolate are off the menu.
If you suspect that you’re having gut problems after eating dairy, go on a five-day elimination diet. Ex out all dairy; make sure to read ingredient labels, as milk often is snuck into prepared foods. Then add a bit of dairy (low-fat, please) back into your diet to see when or if you have symptoms. If you turn out to be as intolerant as Mr. Joyce, you’ll stop eating dairy. Just look at it this way: You’re spared the heart-, brain- and gut-damaging effects of all that sat fat. And there are healthy dairy alternatives: almond and soymilk, and tofu.
DON’T GO BANKRUPT WHEN DRINKING
In a memorable scene from “The Big Bang Theory,” nerdy scientist Sheldon gets uncharacteristically drunk and wakes up in the morning to discover that he called Stephen Hawking repeatedly. The episode ends with a shot of Hawking’s office door as a series of voicemails plays behind it. “Hawkman! It’s your old buddy!” And then: “It’s me again. I gave up string theory. You should give up black holes, and we should totally solve crimes together.” And a few messages later: “Are you mad at me?”
Well, Sheldon isn’t the only one making a costly mistake while inebriated. A survey by Finder.com estimates that Americans are paying the price for decisions made while under the influence — more than $30 billion to be precise — spent on what the researchers call “drunk purchases.”
The survey also reveals that almost 50 per cent of Americans who drink regularly (that’s 68 million adults) admit to making purchases while drunk. The most common expenditure is for food, followed by shoes (?!) and clothes.
If you have a problem with alcohol (either as a binger or a steady drinker), seek help from a 12-step program or individual therapy
NO NEED TO PUT ON RELATIONSHIP POUNDS
In the 2011 comedy “What’s Your Number,” Ally (Anna Faris) decides to revisit ex-boyfriends in hopes that one of them will turn out to be “the one.” In one scene, she runs into an ex, Donald, and flashes back to their less-thanhealthy relationship. Both were overweight. Ally suggests cooking, but Donald wants to go out to eat. Back in the present, both are clearly impressed by one another’s newly acquired fit physiques.
Relationship-related weight gain seems to be an accepted fact these days. The theory is, as we get comfortable with our partner, we stop caring as much about how we look, our nutrition and our exercise level. But a new study looked at more than 2,000 people who were in a marriage or long-term relationship and found that a truly supportive relationship was associated with lower body weight in middle age.
If you’ve both been gaining weight, take the time to assess how you can be more supportive to one another, not just about nutrition and exercise (vitally important) but also about everyday life (that could eliminate eating due to stress, especially late at night).
Talk to one another about becoming “better health buddies.” Find exercises to do together, like daily walking goals (10,000 steps), and plan for ways to meet them. Take a cooking class, or find and shop for healthy recipes to prepare. We bet working toward the common goal of a healthier lifestyle does more than make your RealAge up to 10 years younger; it’ll add intimate zip to your relationship, too!
OPIOIDS VS OTC PAIN RELIEVERS
A recent report in BMJ looked at the case of a 28-year-old male triathlete with hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). After surgery to sever sympathetic nerves in order to control the problem, he couldn’t escape postoperative pain, despite taking medication and doing physical therapy. So he went to a spot where he’d started triathlons and jumped off a cliff into the icy seawater below. He returned to shore pain-free. Talk about a do-over!
We don’t recommend jumping off a cliff to manage chronic pain, but there are smart ways to deal with it. We mention this because of recent headlines about a randomized clinical trial of 240 patients from a Veterans Affairs hospital who had moderate to severe chronic back, hip or knee pain. The researchers provided an opioidtaking group with immediate-release morphine, oxycodone or hydrocodone. A non-opioid group took acetaminophen or a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug. The researchers found that the opioid medications “did not result in significantly better painrelated function over 12 months” than non-opioid medications.