6 Healthier Alternatives to Your Favorite Junk Food Snacks

French fries, candy bars, cookie dough—nothing ever measures up to the taste of the real thing… until now. Trick your taste buds with these better-for-you alternatives, brought to you by Jackie Newgent, RD.

If you’re craving a hot pretzel with mustard

Swap it for: Roasted plantain chips with salsa verde

Peel and slice 3 medium green plantains into 1/8-inch-thick pieces. Toss well with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and ½ teaspoon of salt, then bake at 375°F for 30 minutes. Dry the chips on paper towels and serve with ¾ cup of salsa verde. Serves 4; 240 calories per serving.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

RELATED: 10 Delicious and Healthy Ways to Use Chia Seeds

If you’re craving banana pudding

Swap it for: Mint-banana “nice cream”

Thaw 2 frozen bananas for 5 minutes, then place in a food processor with 1½ teaspoons of pure vanilla extract and 1/8 teaspoon of pure peppermint extract. Blend until creamy. Add 1 ounce of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate and pulse. If desired, add a scoop of unsweetened cocoa powder. Serves 2; about 290 calories per cup.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

If you’re craving French fries

Swap them for: Oven-baked potato thins

Slice 4 russet potatoes into 18 thin pieces each. Toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1½ teaspoon of vinegar, then sprinkle with garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, and a pinch of sea salt. Bake at 475°F for 30 minutes. Serves 4, 190 calories per 18 fries.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

RELATED: How to Eliminate Sugar from Your Diet in 21 Days

If you’re craving chocolate chip cookie dough 

Swap it for: A Pure Genius Provisions chocolate chunk blondie ($23 for a box of 8; puregeniusprovisions.com)

Made with garbanzo beans, this gooey, gluten-free treat is full of protein. The big chunks of dark chocolate help disguise it as an indulgence.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

If you’re craving nachos

Swap them for: Homemade Middle Eastern nachos

Top 12 whole-grain pita chips with ½ cup each diced tomatoes, cucumber, and red onion, plus fresh parsley, a sprinkle of feta and a dollop of hummus. Serves 1; 330 calories per serving.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

If you’re craving a candy bar

Swap it for: A Kind Plus bar ($24 for a box of 12; amazon.com)

These nut-and-fruit-based snacks give you a sweet fix while also packing fiber and antioxidants.

Photo: Ilain Bagwell

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SXkVvO

After Pregnancy-Linked Diabetes Healthy Diet May Ease Blood Pressure

TUESDAY, April 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Women with pregnancy-related diabetes may be able to reduce their future risk of high blood pressure by eating a healthy diet, researchers report.

Their study included almost 4,000 women. All of the women had a history of pregnancy-related (gestational) diabetes. That’s a known risk factor for high blood pressure later in life, the researchers said.

During 22 years of follow-up, more than 1,000 women developed high blood pressure, putting them at increased risk for heart attack and stroke, according to the researchers.

Women who maintained a healthy diet were 20 percent less likely to develop high blood pressure than those who did not. The study authors said increased body fat was 20 percent to 30 percent responsible for the link between poorer eating habits and increased risk of high blood pressure.

A healthy diet includes plenty of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and fish. Red meat, processed meats and salt are limited in a healthy diet, the researchers noted.

The study was published April 18 in the journal Hypertension.

“Our earlier research showed that diabetes in pregnancy increased a woman’s risk of developing hypertension [high blood pressure], even 16 years after giving birth,” said study senior author Dr. Cuilin Zhang, senior investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

“Our current study shows that a healthy diet, which has been proven to reduce high blood pressure risk in the general population, appears to be equally effective in reducing the risk in this group of high-risk women,” Zhang said in a journal news release.

Doctors and other health care workers should encourage women with pregnancy-related diabetes to follow a healthy diet and get regular exercise before and after delivery, the researchers said.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has more on gestational diabetes.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SimMff

HIV Patients Now Living Long Enough to Develop Alzheimer’s

TUESDAY, April 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The first case of Alzheimer’s disease diagnosed in a person with HIV highlights the fact that long-time HIV survivors are starting to reach ages where their risk for Alzheimer’s increases, researchers report.

The 71-year-old man was diagnosed after a medical scan revealed amyloid protein clumps in his brain. Until now, it was believed that HIV-related inflammation in the brain might prevent the formation of such clumps and thereby protect these people from Alzheimer’s.

“This patient may be a sentinel case that disputes what we thought we knew about dementia in HIV-positive individuals,” said study author Dr. R. Scott Turner. He is head of the Memory Disorders Program at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

The case also suggests that some older people with HIV and dementia may be misdiagnosed with HIV-associated brain disorders, but actually have Alzheimer’s disease. It’s also possible that some older people with HIV have both HIV-associated brain disorders and Alzheimer’s, according to Turner.

“Chronic HIV infection and amyloid deposition with aging may represent a ‘double-hit’ to the brain that results in progressive dementia,” he said in a university news release.

Correct diagnosis is important because there are different treatments for HIV-related brain disorders and Alzheimer’s, Turner noted.

The study was published online April 15 in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring.

As of 2013, there were 53,000 HIV-positive people in the United States who were 65 and older, the age range when Alzheimer’s disease risk begins to rise, according to the researchers. That number is expected to double in less than 10 years and does not include people who have not been diagnosed.

“This case report reveals important new insights into the specific issue of HIV-related neurological impairment,” Jeffrey Crowley, program director of the U.S. National HIV/AIDS Initiative at Georgetown’s Institute for National and Global Health Law, said in the news release.

“This finding must lead to additional population-based studies, as well as timely clinical and programmatic interventions to better support individuals with HIV who are facing neurological decline,” said Crowley, former director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer’s disease.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SimOnp

‘Palliative Care’ Gets a Bad Rap Study Finds

TUESDAY, April 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) — The term “palliative care” triggers negative feelings among many cancer patients, and needs “rebranding,” researchers say.

The stigma surrounding palliative care can mean patients wait too long to receive supportive care that improves their quality of life, said researchers at the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto.

This new study shows there’s a “branding issue,” said principal investigator Dr. Camilla Zimmermann, head of palliative care for the hospital and the University Health Network.

Palliative care “is not something to be afraid of or that is stigmatizing, but is helpful even while patients are receiving life-prolonging therapies,” Zimmermann said in a network news release.

She and her colleagues analyzed interviews with 48 patients who had advanced cancer and an estimated survival of between six and 24 months. Half the patients received early palliative care in an outpatient clinic along with standard cancer care, while the other half received standard cancer care only.

Quality of life improved for those who received early palliative care, the study found.

At first, “both groups perceived palliative care as synonymous with death; as care at the end of life in a setting where they would die, and in general as a frightening, anxiety-provoking thing they wanted to avoid,” said Zimmermann.

But that perception changed among those in the palliative care group, the researchers found.

“They began to see palliative care as relevant early in the course of their illness and as being beneficial to them by supporting them and improving their quality of life,” Zimmermann said.

However, those patients still felt stigmatized by the term “palliative care.”

“Patients told us if palliative care were called something else, they wouldn’t feel so stigmatized,”
Zimmermann said.

“Importantly, the source of this stigma was mainly in the medical system because doctors and nurses had given the impression that palliative care was only end-of-life care,” she said.

The media was another source of stigma, she said.

“I think those are two powerful institutions where we could affect change and give a different perception to families and caregivers about what palliative care really is,” Zimmermann explained.

The study was published April 18 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Definitions of palliative care are inconsistent and confusing, Zimmermann added.

“Until there is a consistent definition of palliative care that is promoted by those referring patients and collaborating in their treatment, it is unreasonable to expect that patients and families will embrace a broadened conceptualization of palliative care,” she said.

The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life in many different ways, Zimmermann added. “Symptom control is an important domain; and this means managing pain, nausea, shortness of breath, sleep, depression and anxiety,” she explained.

Also, palliative care provides support for the family at home as well as spiritual support, she said.

More information

The Center to Advance Palliative Care has more on this specialized form of medical support.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SimLYJ

Americans’ Longer Life = Poorer Health

TUESDAY, April 19, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Americans are living longer, but those extra years may include poor health or a disability, a new study finds.

Between 1970 and 2010, the average life span for men increased 9.2 years to 76.2 years of age, and for women it increased 6.4 years to 81 years of age, according to the report.

However, the number of years lived with a disability rose 4.7 years among men and 3.6 years among women, while the number of disability-free years increased by 4.5 years for men and 2.7 years for women, the findings showed.

“We could be increasing the length of poor-quality life more than good-quality life,” said lead author Eileen Crimmins. She is a professor of gerontology at the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology.

“There are a number of indications that the baby boomer generation that is now reaching old age is not seeing improvements in health similar to the older groups that went before them,” she said in a university news release.

The investigators found that only those 65 and older experienced what they called a “compression of morbidity” — a reduction in the proportion of years spent with disability.

The findings are important for policy proposals, such as raising the age for Social Security and Medicare eligibility, the researchers said.

“Clearly, there is a need to maintain health and reduce disability at younger ages to have meaningful compression of morbidity across the age range,” Crimmins said. “The trends for the last 40 years do not support projections and policies that are based on assumptions of a reduced length of disabled life.”

The study was published online April 14 in the American Journal of Public Health.

More information

The U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion outlines how to protect your health as your grow older.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SimLYB

3 New Apps that Let You Crowdsource Your Worries

Photo: Getty Images

Facebook and Twitter friends are great for providing dinner suggestions, but what about life advice? A slew of new apps are letting you seek guidance from the masses about love, your job, and more, all from your smartphone. “It’s like talk therapy because it gives you a place to put down that burden you’ve been carrying on your shoulders,” notes Suzanne Degges-White, PhD, chair of the counseling, adult, and higher education department at Northern Illinois University. (Just keep in mind that you’ll still have to work on relationships in real life.)

RELATED: 12 Signs You May Have an Anxiety Disorder

Need to get something off your chest? Give communal therapy a try:

Counsel (free; Google Play)

Talk it out with users who have been through similar experiences; there’s an option to chat one-on-one.

Koko (free; iTunes)

Anonymously share what you’re wigging out about, and get tips from the forum to help you rethink the situation.

RELATED: The Best Yoga Poses for Anxiety, Pain, and More

Jyst (free; iTunes)

Undecided about texting him back? Gather honest advice about all your modern romance woes from anonymous users.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1qWbVAO

Obamacare Expanding Coverage for the Poor Study Finds

By Karen Pallarito
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) — State Medicaid expansions under Obamacare have improved low-income Americans’ insurance coverage, increased their doctor visits and enhanced detection of chronic health conditions, which could lead to improvements in health, a new study suggests.

The findings are important as policymakers continue to debate the value of expanding Medicaid, the publicly funded health insurance program for the poor, researchers said.

Using data from a large, national survey of more than 40,000 low-income adults, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Michigan examined what they said were a broader array of outcomes than were included in previous Medicaid expansion studies.

The findings were reported online April 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Among Medicaid expansion states, the study revealed a sharp, 6.6-percentage-point increase in the proportion of low-income adults who reported seeing a physician in the previous 12 months compared with states that did not expand eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Diagnosis rates of diabetes and high cholesterol also increased significantly in the expansion states versus non-expansion states, the study found.

However, researchers were unable to show that low-income people were any healthier as a result of the Medicaid expansions. They found no improvement in self-reported health among low-income adults in the expansion states.

“This is a very early look at the impact of the Medicaid expansion,” said UCLA’s Laura Wherry, lead author of the study.

“It’s possible over time you would see different results,” added Wherry, an assistant professor in residence in the David Geffen School of Medicine’s division of general internal medicine and health services research.

Sara Rosenbaum, professor of health law and policy at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., said while the findings are “consistent with everything we know,” it’s just too soon to capture changes in health status.

However, another Washington-based policy expert deemed the study “striking,” partly because it reflects significant improvements in expansion versus non-expansion states over a relatively short window of time.

It says that when you expand coverage to the poorest people, illnesses get picked up at an earlier stage, when they are more survivable and less expensive to treat, explained Stan Dorn, senior policy fellow in the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Jeffrey Kullgren of the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Health System and the University of Michigan, said the study highlights “what is forgone by states that reject the ACA’s [the U.S. Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare] opportunity to expand Medicaid.”

Eligibility for Medicaid expanded under the Affordable Care Act to adults earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2016 dollars, that’s $16,242 for an individual and $33,465 for a family of four.

But after the U.S. Supreme Court made that provision of the law optional, only 26 states and the District of Columbia expanded Medicaid in 2014.

Wherry and co-author Sarah Miller of the University of Michigan took advantage of that quirk in the Medicaid rollout. Their study compares the experiences of residents in expansion and non-expansion states four years before the 2014 Medicaid expansion and the first year afterward.

Their study sample, drawn from the U.S. National Health Interview Study, included adults ages 19 to 64 in low-income families.

Because several measures asked people to report their experiences in the previous 12 months, the study authors defined the post-expansion period as the second half of 2014.

Survey respondents in states that expanded Medicaid had, on average, only eight months of experience with the coverage expansion.

Compared with states that did not expand Medicaid:

• Health insurance increased 7.4 percentage points and Medicaid coverage rose 10.5 percentage points after the ACA expansion.
• Overnight hospital stays rose 2.4 percentage points.
• Diagnoses of diabetes and high cholesterol each rose more than 5 percentage points.

More information

Go to HealthCare.gov for more on Medicaid expansion.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1SqTd09

Metformin Safer for Heart Than Other Common Type 2 Diabetes Drugs: Study

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Metformin, the most frequently prescribed standalone drug for type 2 diabetes, is better for the heart than its closest competitors, a large analysis suggests.

Metformin reduced the risk of dying from heart attack and stroke by about 30 percent to 40 percent compared with other commonly used drugs called sulfonylureas, such as glibenclamide, glimepiride, glipizide and tolbutamide, researchers report.

“Pharmaceutical companies continue to make new drugs to reduce blood sugar and improve on safety concerns of the older drugs,” said senior study author Dr. Shari Bolen.

But, “while adults with diabetes often need more than one medication to control blood sugar, the newer medications do not appear to be safer than the older drugs,” added Bolen.

Metformin is still the safest and most effective type 2 diabetes medication, said Bolen. She is an assistant professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Health Care Research and Policy, in Cleveland.

The analysis, which included 204 studies involving 1.4 million people, was published April 19 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

According to the researchers, although diabetes patients with uncontrolled blood sugar are at risk for dying from a heart attack or stroke, it hasn’t been clear whether one diabetes drug is better than another in preventing these deaths.

“The complications of untreated diabetes often outweigh these safety concerns, but consumers will need to weigh benefits and risks of the medications with their doctors when making diabetes treatment choices,” Bolen said.

Metformin, which has been used since the late 1990s, is a relatively inexpensive generic drug compared to many newer, more expensive drugs, Bolen said. In 2014, per-person spending was higher for diabetes drugs than for any other class of drugs, in part because more than half the prescriptions were for brand-name medications, she explained.

The findings in this latest study aren’t surprising, said Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.

“We know, or we should know, that metformin is a good first-line agent to treat adults with type 2 diabetes and that it has favorable cardiovascular mortality — certainly when compared to sulfonylureas — nothing new,” he said.

The cost for diabetes care is not the cost of the medications, “it is the cost of complications,” Zonszein said.

“For instance, one of the most common and expensive reasons for acute complications is the use of sulfonylureas and insulin that cause hypoglycemia [dangerously low blood sugar],” he said. “We have many medications that don’t cause hypoglycemia and are equally or more effective.”

Even newer drugs may be more effective in preventing heart attacks and strokes, he said.

“We have now three different drugs that have shown real superiority for cardiovascular outcomes, in addition to conventional therapy that includes good blood pressure control, aspirin, and statins to reduce cholesterol,” Zonszein said.

“These are pioglitazone [Actos], empagliflozin [Jardiance], and liraglutide [Victoza],” he said.

More information

Visit the American Diabetes Association for more on diabetes.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1YDHmdP

Doctors Issue Call to Combat Climate Change

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 18, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Climate change is already harming people’s health by promoting illnesses linked to warmer temperatures and changing weather patterns, a leading group of U.S. doctors says in a new position paper.

As a result, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is calling for “aggressive, concerted” action to fight climate change by curbing man-made greenhouse gas emissions.

Respiratory illnesses, heat stroke and infectious diseases like Zika virus, dengue fever and cholera are flourishing as global temperatures rise, said Dr. Wayne Riley, president of the college.

“Our climate is already changing and people are already being harmed. If we don’t begin to address climate change, we’re going to see more and more manifestations of these health problems,” Riley said.

“There is clear, compelling scientific consensus that climate change is real,” he added. “There is no dispute.”

In the paper, published online April 18 in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the ACP outlines the health problems that it says climate change is already creating:

• Respiratory illnesses, including asthma and COPD. Rising temperatures are causing an increase in ozone pollution, smoke from wildfires, and allergens produced by weeds, grasses and trees. Homes affected by heavy rains or flooding can become host to toxic mold and fungi.
• Heat-related illnesses, such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which are particularly dangerous for children and the elderly.
• Insect-borne illnesses, like Zika virus, dengue fever and chikungunya, which are ranging farther north as mosquitoes thrive in warmer climates.
• Water-borne illnesses, such as cholera, which can spread if drought causes poor sanitation or if heavy flooding causes sewer systems to overflow.
• Mental health disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and depression connected to natural disasters, as well as the anxiety and stress that accompanies days of hot weather.

“Think about what happens during a heat wave,” Riley said. “People’s irritability and anxiety increases, starting a chain of events that can lead to behavioral health problems.”

The ACP is urging its physician members to both speak out for climate change policies in their communities, and to lead the way by promoting energy efficiency in their own practices, said Bob Doherty, the ACP’s senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy.

The health care sector is ranked second-highest in energy use, after the food industry, spending about $9 billion annually on energy costs, the position paper stated. Health care systems can reduce their carbon footprint through energy conservation and efficiency, alternative energy generation, green building design, improved waste disposal and management, and water conservation, according to the paper.

“Our paper really talks about physicians being advocates in their own health systems, communities and practices to reduce carbon emissions,” Doherty said. “We highlight case studies where this is already being done.”

Doherty said the ACP took this stand, in part, because its members will be the ones on the front lines treating many of these climate-related illnesses. The ACP represents internists, or general practitioners who specialize in the treatment of adults.

“Many of the conditions that are likely to be worsened or caused by a warming planet are conditions that are typically seen by internists,” he said.

Riley and Doherty also hope that a science-based association of physicians taking this stance will persuade those who remain skeptical of climate change.

“We’re hoping the credibility of doctors speaking out will help persuade some of the doubters that this is real, and that we need to act on it,” Doherty said. “Most of the public understands that when physicians speak out, they are doing it because of their moral and professional obligation to care for their patients.”

Lyndsay Moseley Alexander, director of the American Lung Association’s Healthy Air Campaign, said the new position paper is a “great” contribution to addressing climate change.

“I applaud the leadership of ACP,” Alexander said. “Their statement underscores the urgency of the science and the importance of the medical community’s role.”

Climate change is actually undoing some of the progress that the United States has made reducing smog pollution in the skies over major cities, she said.

“Some communities are seeing a little bit of an uptick in ozone,” Alexander said. “As climate change continues, it’s going to be harder to maintain the progress we have made.”

More information

For more on climate change and human health, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1YDHnOF

4 Awe-Inspiring Trails to Run Before You Die

Yes, any old dirt path in your local park is worthy of a run, but here are four awe-inspiring trails to blaze before you die. You’ll be glad you did.

The Dip Sea Trail in Marin County, Calif.

Run here for killer views of redwood trees, grasslands, and the Pacific Ocean.

Photo: Getty Images

RELATED: Best Vacation Spots for Hiking

Crater Lake National Park in Oregon

Trek this lake’s rocky rim, surrounded by the lush greenery of the Pacific Northwest, and enjoy views of Mount Shasta.

Photo: Getty Images

RELATED: Gear Up for the Great Outdoors

Kalalau Trail in Kauai, Hawaii

Catch glimpses of waterfalls as you run across rolling valleys along the Na Pali Coast. Finish on the beaches of Hanakapi’ai and Kalalau.

Photo: Getty Images

Rim to Rim in Grand Canyon National Park, Ariz.

From the North Rim, you’ll jog more than 14 miles downhill along the North Kaibab Trail before climbing nearly 10 back up on the South Rim’s Bright Angel Trail, taking in rock formations along the way.

Photo: Getty Images

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1So7ffT