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The Skinny at Starbucks by Tara Parker-Pope

Published on January 15, 2008 in Healthy Living. 0 Comments

I rather enjoyed this article the New York Times wrote on Starbucks, it makes you think!

“My regular coffee order at Starbucks sounds ridiculous. “I’ll have a grande, no-fat, sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte, no whip. Please.’’ Once, a customer behind me chirped, “Would you like coffee with that?”

Now Starbucks is making it easier on patrons like myself who like to order a little coffee with their adjectives. Coffee drinks made with nonfat milk and sugar-free syrups are now called “skinny.’’ So I can order a “skinny” Cinnamon Dolce and get the same no-fat, sugar-free, no-whip drink without so much effort. There are also “skinny” mochas, “skinny” caramel lattes and “skinny” hazelnut lattes.

But in giving my coffee order a new, easier-to-pronounce name, Starbucks has also given me food for thought. If I can’t pronounce it easily, should I really be drinking it?

I may not have come to this conclusion had I not been reading Michael Pollan’s excellent new book, “In Defense of Food.” I learned that my coffee order breaks at least three of his rules.

Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
Avoid food products containing ingredients that are a) unfamiliar, b) unpronounceable, or c) more than five in number, or that include d) high-fructose corn syrup.
Avoid food products that make health claims.

I’m not the only one fretting about the meaning of the skinny moniker. Last week, the Gothamist blog reported on a Starbucks barista who complained that the “skinny” terminology will exacerbate self-image issues of the overweight. (The Gothamist asks whether “no-fat” milk and “heavy” cream are insensitive as well.) Starbucks Gossip carries the full letter.

And while I save 200 calories by ordering the “skinny” rather than the regular Cinnamon Dolce Latte (which packs 330 calories), I’m still consuming an extra 130 calories daily in my so-called skinny drink. If I order it seven days a week for a year, that translates into a not-so-skinny 13.5 pounds worth of calories.

So thanks to Starbucks, the wisdom of Michael Pollan and the umbrage of an unnamed barista, I’ve decided to kick the flavored-coffee habit altogether. Now I’m just going to order coffee, although I’m not sure what to call it.”

via nytimes.com

7 Signs of a (Seriously) Unhealthy Baby

Published on January 12, 2008 in Baby/Childcare and Healthy Living. 0 Comments

Over four million babies each year die before they are a month old, 75% of those within the first week, and most parents don’t even see it coming. Here is a quick list of symptoms to be mindful of when taking home your newborn.

Dificulty getting your child to eat - Babies are stubborn by nature, however if you are going on days with he or she barely eating, it’s time to go to the hospital.
Repeated convulsions - Obviously after one, you need to get in contact with your doctor, however repeated convulsions require immediate analysis.
Movement only when stimulated - If your baby only moves when reacting to touch, something is wrong. Most times they will catch this before you leave the hospital, however if this starts happening at home, it’s time to go back.
A breathing rate of over 60 breaths per minute or under 30 - A strong sign of difficulty breathing.
Severe chest indrawing - Again, your baby is having trouble getting air, many times this is accompanied by grunting.
Temperature over 37.5 degrees Celsius - or…
Temperature under 35.5 Celsius - Could be any number of things, however these temperatures are getting into the dangerous ranges, and you need to get your baby checked out as soon as possible.

If you stumble across any of these, a visit to the hospital is in line. Spread the word, it is vital parents everywhere have this knowledge. It could save their baby!

expanded from MSNBC

Eat Chocolate and Be Healthy!

Published on January 11, 2008 in Healthy Living. 0 Comments

So the new year is in, and you have decided to be healthier, but you still want to have fun right? How about eating some chocolate? It’s good for you, as long as you stick with dark chocolate. In recent studies, the flavanols in dark chocolate proved to increase heart function, and lower high blood pressure. Plus, the antioxidants in it are a great bonus! Like everything however, it is good for you in moderation, so keep it to a bar a day or less!

via healthy.net

10 Reasons Why You Won’t Die a TV Death

Published on December 26, 2007 in Healthy Living. 0 Comments

1. You’re not going to have sex on your deathbed.

Dying is not as sexy as it looks on “Grey’s Anatomy” or “ER”. A real nurse is overworked. She’s not wearing that tight uniform for your benefit. Don’t push it: You may lose your bedpan or your spleen.

2. An intern won’t save your life.

You’d better hope an intern isn’t the one running your resuscitation attempt or operating on you. Interns — even ones who look like Meredith Grey — are not supposed to manage actual cases.

3. A donor organ won’t arrive in the nick of time.

On TV you get the organ of your choice. In real life you grow weaker and weaker, you try to buy an organ from someone, or you try to procure one from overseas. You can easily die while waiting.

4. You may die of something silly.

In “House” and other flashy diagnostic shows, it’s always the rare blood disorder that kills you, but in your own medical drama, it may be the toothpick you swallowed.

5. You could also die in the E.R.

The waiting time in the small-screen E.R. is short, especially if you’re a guest star. Show up at an actual emergency room and you could wait in an alcove vomiting blood before anyone notices.

6. Flesh-eating bacteria won’t get you.

Sure, just like on Scrubs, there are some bacteria in the world that can gobble up your skin and threaten your life, but that’s why we have antibiotics. And while drug-resistant bacteria are a growing problem in real hospitals, they won’t consume you.

7. You won’t die right away.

Clogged arteries can be bypassed again and again, chemotherapy can slow the advance of cancer for months or years, and feeding tubes and respirators are able to do all your eating and breathing for you. It’s only on TV that everything is wrapped up between commercials.

8. A doctor won’t deliver a verdict.

Even if you’re dying, statistics show that your doctor may not be the one to tell you right away. He may not want you to lose all hope. He may not know how to treat your pain. We doctors are human and flawed. Most of us are not as bold as Ben Casey or as dewy-eyed as McDreamy.

9. You won’t come back from cardiac arrest.

On TV, Meredith Grey’s heart stops beating for over an hour and her body temperature slips below 90°, yet she fully recovers. Don’t bet on it: Your actual chance of surviving cardiac arrest is less than 18 percent, and brain damage is likely even if you do recover. If you see ghosts like Meredith does, they’re probably real.

10. You may die watching TV.

Being sedentary leads to being overweight, which affects two-thirds of Americans and endangers their lives in innumerable ways. So if you want to watch shows depicting illnesses you won’t die from, at least do it while exercising.

(By Marc Siegel, M.D. , Health.Msn.Com)

Tags: Death

The World’s Weirdest Deaths

Top 10: Natural Architectures

Published on December 26, 2007 in Healthy Living. 0 Comments

The natural environment still manages to fill us with a sense of awe and amazement. despite the amount of scientific knowledge mankind has gathered, nature still holds great mysteries that we may never be able to unravel. this complexity has continually daunted man. in frustration, we try to control nature by enforcing order. as a result, we have distanced ourselves from the earth, even though our survival is completely dependent on it. we are now trying to regain our close connection to nature.

There is an emerging art movement that is exploring mankind’s desire to reconnect to the earth, through the built environment. referred to as ‘natural architecture’, it aims to create a new, more harmonious, relationship between man and nature by exploring what it means to design with nature in mind.