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May 1st
I love these kinds of Sundays when it's raining and you feel
tired but not completely exhausted, just enough energy so
that a trip to the grocery store or video/dvd rental place
feels like an accomplishment. If it was sunny or Saturday,
I'd feel the pressure to "go out and do something"
but today I find it invites "lazing" around. I still
haven't hung the mirror in the bedroom and the lamps need
to be bolted to the wall. So I have no light and I can't see
what I look like in the morning, but hey, it's raining and
I have a newsletter to write.
A couple of interesting things this month
in women's health, one is alarming in that the lung cancer
rate in women has reached epidemic proportions, there was
a victory for working moms in a few states that may set precedence,
an interesting report about a mineral that can make an important
difference in bone density and finally before winter says,
"goodbye" for good, a look at the citrus staple
grapefruit and it's nutrition qualities.
DISTURBING NEWS
Lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as the leading form
of cancer in women by nearly 20,000 patients a year. While
the number of lung cancer cased among men have decreased in
1990-2003, the number for women climbed a surprising 60% and
now kills more women each year than breast and ovarian cancer
combined. These findings were published the Journal
of the American Medical Association last month. It isn't clear
why lung cancer may be striking so many women and many different
theories are emerging (like we metabolize carcinogens differently,
our DNA doesn't repair the damage, hormone differences) but
what is clear is that it can not be fully explained by women's
smoking habits. While 85-90% of all men and women who get
lung cancer have smoked in their lives, many of those diagnosed
today have quit decades before or were the "occasional"
smoker. 10-15% have never smoked, and of those women appear
more likely to get lung cancer than men. Lung cancer has a
five year survival rate of only 14%. For more information
go to http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/291/14/1763
for the abstract. The full article needs to be purchased or
ask you doctor.
IT'S A GREAT AND DUE VICTORY
for working moms but when I read this, I couldn't believe
that this hadn't been settled 10 years ago. In a New York
federal appeals court, a judge ruled that it isn't necessary
to prove that men in similar jobs get better treatment to
prove discrimination, it is enough to show that mothers are
being taken less seriously than women who don't have children.
The judgement basically says that "motherhood" and
the stereotypes that are associated with it (like women having
children and leaving their jobs) is itself gender discrimination.
Many advocates believe that women never get to the so called
"glass ceiling" because they are stopped long before
by the maternal wall. The judge made clear that this has nothing
to do with what is expected of a woman at work, like leaving
early without permission to pick up a child, but it is illegal
to assume that hiring a mother would necessarily lead to this.
This decision isn't binding beyond the Second U.S. Circuit
o f New York, Connecticut and Vermont but is likely to influence
other cases. For more information go to wsj.com
and type in the authors name Jon Vuocolo or email him at jon.vuocolo@wsj.com.
This article appeared Wednesday April 18th in the Personal
Journal -- page D3.
A CALCIUM/IRON BALANCE MAY MAKE BONES
STRONGER
in women in the 40's - 60's according to a study conducted
by the Universities of Arizona and Arkansas along with Columbia
University. The study of 250 women showed that those who consumed
18 mg. of iron had the greatest bone density but this only
held true for women who consumed between 800-1200 mg. of calcium
per day - more or less calcium and that much iron did not
appear to help. (8 mg are recommended for women who have stopped
menstruating) The reason that iron plays a role is that it
promotes the production of collagen, a central component of
bone. The reason that the balance must be maintained is that
calcium and iron can compete with each other for absorption
by the body and too much or too little of one or the other
can apparently throw things off. The mineral iron is particularly
well absorbed when consumed with food that contains vitamin
C. Iron can be toxic and cause constipation, so care should
be used. One note: iron may simply be a marker for good bone
protecting diet as many other nutrients are important for
good bone health like vitamins D and K. Source: Tufts University
of Health & Nutrition Newsletter January 2004
THE COMPLICATED GRAPEFRUIT
I'm almost sorry I brought it up - but now that I've done
a little research, I feel I should share it with you. Grapefruit
is one of the later fruits to come on the scene. It was originally
believed to be a spontaneous sport of the pummelo (an exotic
large citrus fruit originated in Asia and consumed in China,
Japan, India, etc) but in 1948, citrus specialists surmised
that it was an accidental hybrid between the pummelo and the
orange. The grapefruit has made great advances in the past
75 years and heightened in the 1970's by the "grapefruit
diet" plan claimed to achieve a loss of 10 lbs (4.5 kg)
in 10 days. It is customarily consumed as a juice or a breakfast
fruit but in Australia it is commercially processed as a marmalade
or made into a jelly.
There are 10 different varieties and the
technical names are 'Duncan' for the white ones 'Foster'
for the pink flesh, 'Marsh' are seedless and 'Redblush'
are the ruby red.
The Grapefruit peel is an important source
of pectin for the preservation of other fruits. The peel oil,
expressed or distilled, is commonly employed in soft-drink
flavoring, after the removal of 50% of the monoterpenes. Grapefruit
seed oil is dark and exceedingly bitter but because it is
an unsaturated fat, its production has greatly increased since
1960.
Different parts are also used as supplements
- the pectin has been touted as an excellent source of water-soluble
fiber and is taken to support good intestinal health when
diets are fiber constricted. The seeds are ground and extracted
and apparently used for anything from yeast infections to
pet ailments to weight loss. There are web sites dedicated
to this and while it's use for yeast infections seems viable
the other uses seem far fetched.
Finally, the grapefruit is infamous for
it's interactions with antihistamines and according to a website
dedicated to grapefruit drug interactions (listed below) -
a few other medications as well. I hadn't realized that this
fruit had such an extensive rap sheet!
In any case - if you just want to sit and
enjoy a half of grapefruit, here's what you will ingest --
note that the red and pink have much higher vitamin A content:
| Calories |
60 |
| Total fat |
0 grams |
| Carbohydrates |
16 g |
| Cholesterol |
0 grams |
| Sodium |
0 grams |
| Potassium |
162 mg |
| Fiber |
6 grams |
| Sugars |
10 grams |
| Protein |
1 gram |
| Vitamin A (white) |
10 I.U. |
| Vitamin A (pink) |
440 I.U. |
| Vitamin C |
38 mg |
| Calcium |
9 mg. |
Iron
|
0 |
For more information about all this, I'll
save you the exhausting Google search
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl
for nutrition
http://www.powernetdesign.com/grapefruit/
for drug interactions
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/grapefruit.html
for history etc
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our websites for lots more information, www.oonahealth.com.
And our staff is available to answer any
questions you may have at
1-888-596-5154. That's right-real people, not some electronic
menu-happy to
answer questions, give opinions, take orders, or just listen.
(Business
hours are 9:30a.m - 6 p.m. E.S.T.)
That's it for this month! As always,
check out our website for lots more information at www.oonahealth.com. In Good Health,
The Oöna Team
Questions or comments? Write valerie@oonahealth.com
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