Babies’ bellies healthy with furry friends close by
Michael Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet Oz, M.D.
George Graham Vest was a U.S. senator in the late 1800s, but it’s the way he represented one of his constituents’ dogs, Old Drum, that has made him part of American history. To commemorate the passing of the loyal pooch, he declared, “The one absolutely unselfish friend man can have in this selfish world is … his dog.” A statue of Old Drum still stands outside the Warrensburg, Missouri, courthouse.
Turns out, unconditional love is not the only benefit of having a canine companion. A new study, published in Microbiome, found that infants who are exposed to furry pets have a healthier mix of gut bacteria. Researchers analyzed fecal samples from more than 700 babies at around 3 months of age; those who had spent more time around four-legged friends had twice the normal levels of Ruminococcus and Oscillospira bacteria.
Past studies have linked higher levels of Ruminococcus in infancy to a lower risk of childhood allergies, and greater amounts of Oscillospira to a lower risk of obesity later in life. This new study adds to existing research that shows kids in regular contact with dogs in their first year of life have a 13 percent lower risk of asthma.
So if you’re thinking about starting or expanding your family, you might want to add a dog to the mix. Prenatal exposure also confers benefits to newborns and gives you time to get the animal settled into household routines. Bonus: Besides giving unconditional love, a dog encourages more exercise and reduces stress.
Three nutrients that help prevent high blood pressure
The time-worn axiom “good things come in threes,” was said by ancient Romans ( omne trium perfectum) and has been advocated by as distinguished a mind as Albert Einstein. He had a rule of three that he believed was the key to good scientific discoveries: 1. Out of clutter find simplicity; 2. From discord find harmony; 3. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
Another good scientific discovery that uses the rule of three was announced at the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting recently. Researchers tracked 2,600 men and women who had normal blood pressure at the start for 16 years. They found that the secret to avoiding high blood pressure is sufficient intake of potassium (bananas, fish, dark leafy greens), magnesium (dark leafy greens, dark chocolate) and calcium (dark leafy greens, almonds, broccoli, nonfat dairy). Low sodium intake didn’t help.
In fact, the research found that study participants who consumed less than 2,500 milligrams of sodium a day had higher blood pressure than participants who consumed greater amounts. Participants with higher combined intakes of sodium (3,717 milligrams per day, on average) and potassium (3,211 milligrams per day on average) had the lowest blood pressure!
If you do not yet have high blood pressure (more than 32 percent of adults in the U.S. do), your best move is to make sure you have five to nine servings of fresh veggies and fruit daily, eat fish (salmon and sea trout) at least twice a week and enjoy a little dark chocolate. That’ll keep the pressure off !
Question: Based on information in your column, we started a campaign in the school district for later middle and high school start times. But we are getting pushback and need some more ammunition. Can you help? — Elizabeth H., Nyack, New York
Answer: We agree that too many schools are ringing the school bell alarmingly early — and many organizations and sleep specialists concur. There’s even a website for Start Schools Later, Inc. (a nonprofit advocacy group) at www. startschoollater.net/ success-stories.html that lists examples of school districts across 44 states (they’re not all perfect, but they do address concerns) that have gone to later start times. You’ll find great academic and anecdotal data to support smart parents like you.
According to Start Schools Later: “Nearly 10 percent of U.S. high schools start before 7:30 a.m., 40 percent start before 8 a.m., and only around 15 percent start after 8:30. And more than 20 percent of U.S. middle schools start class at 7:45 a.m. or earlier. To accommodate those schedules, bus pickups start shortly after 5:30 a.m. in some districts, and teens must wake at 5 or 6 a.m. to get to school on time.”
Parents know the toll this takes on kids. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine agrees. In a newly released position paper, it says unequivocally that middle and high schools should start at 8:30 or later. According to the AASM, it matters because, “during adolescence, internal circadian rhythms [as well as the] biological sleep drive change … [the] result [is] later sleep and wake times.”
Furthermore, they state that adolescents need eight to 10 hours of sleep a night, but almost 70 percent get only seven or less, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And multiple studies show that when adolescents get shortchanged on sleep they are at risk for:
■ Poor school performance ■ Obesity ■ Metabolic dysfunction
■ Increased depressive symptoms ■ Suicidal ideation ■ Risk-taking behaviors ■ More car accidents ■ Athletic injuries So remind the school board or whoever is resisting that if the concern is teaching young minds (and maybe even better teacher performance) and getting great outcomes, later start times definitely improve academic performance, alertness and mental health.