[From BlackDoctor.org]

Coffee in the morning keeps everyone awake and energized for the workday or for errands to be ran. Who knew that coffee can also moderately reduce the risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly. Maybe you could “put a little Folgers in your cup” for your health.

Researchers in Finland and Sweden examined the records of 1,409 people whose coffee drinking habits had been recorded when they were at midlife.

Those who drank three to five cups of coffee per day in midlife were much less likely to have developed dementia or Alzheimer’s in follow-up checks two decades or more later, the researchers say in the January issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

“Given the large amount of coffee consumption globally, the results might have important implications for the prevention of or delaying the onset of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease,” Miia Kivipelto, a researcher from the University of Kuopio, Finland, and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, says in a news release. “The finding needs to be confirmed by other studies, but it opens the possibility that dietary interventions could modify the risk of dementia/AD. [And it] might help in the development of new therapies for these diseases.”

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It’s hard enough trying to keep our skin from getting ashy in the spring, and when that cold weather hits, cocoa butter is flying off the shelves! Check out some of these skin-saving tips from BlackDoctor.org.

[From BlackDoctor.org]

During winter, cold temperatures, biting winds, low humidity and indoor heating can cause dry, itchy, cracked skin and chapped lips and exacerbate conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and seborrhea.

But there are some simple steps you can take to protect your skin from winter’s harsh conditions, says dermatologist Dr. Deborah A. Scott, director of the Center for Laser Dermatology and Skin Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston.

Scott recommends that you:

* Stay hydrated. Drinking adequate amounts of water benefits your overall health and helps hydrate your skin from within. You should try to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.
* Keep showers short and warm. Long, hot showers strip natural oils from your skin. You should spend no more than 10 minutes in the shower and keep the water temperature below 90 degrees F.
* Use mild skin care products. The best choices are creams, ointments and lotions that are formulated for sensitive skin and don’t contain alcohol. Do not use deodorant or antibacterial soaps, or soaps or shampoos with skin irritants such as fragrances and lauryl sulfates.
* Moisturize daily. Immediately after a shower, pat skin dry (do not rub) and apply moisturizer to help trap moisture in the outer layers of your skin. Carry a travel-size container of lotion with you so you can replenish your skin moisture throughout the day.

What are the other four tips? Click here to find out!

[From BlackDoctor.org]

Childhood obesity is growing at an alarming rate, but experts say parents are more powerful than they imagine at helping kids fight the problem.

About 17 percent of U.S. children and teens, aged 2 to 19, are overweight, according to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. But three studies presented at this week’s Pediatric Academic Societies’ annual meeting, in San Francisco, offer ways to help kids get to healthier weights.

Mothers in families where food is sometimes scarce due to money problems have a tendency to give their children high-calorie foods to boost overall calories or foods to stimulate the appetite — two practices they should avoid if they want their child to remain at a healthy weight, said Emily Feinberg, an assistant professor of maternal and child health at Boston University School of Public Health and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Medical Center.

In her study, Feinberg interviewed 248 mothers of normal and overweight black and Haitian children, aged 2 to 12.

She found that 28 percent of them had shortages of food from time to time. When that happened, 43 percent used nutritional drinks such as high-calorie instant breakfast drinks, and 12 percent used substances to stimulate appetite, such as traditional Haitian teas, in a well-meaning effort to be sure the children got adequate nutrition. Instead, Feinberg said, these low-income mothers should “try in general not to focus as much on calories but on the quality of the diet. Instead of a nutritional drink supplement, we would recommend increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables.”

Helping your child have good self-esteem can also motivate him or her to lose weight, found Kiti Freier, a pediatric psychologist at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif., and director of the Growing Fit Program there.

When she interviewed 118 overweight children participating in a 12-week program, she found that good self-image was even more important than how much excess weight they carried in predicting whether they were ready to lose excess weight.

“Their readiness to change relates to whether they felt supported, not how big they were,” she said. The message for parents of chubby children is clear: Don’t point out how much overweight they are. Instead, try something like this: “We love you so much. We want you to be healthy and have a long life,” Freier said. Then offer them a plan and support.

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