Burger horrors
We hate to ruin your favorite summer meal, but before you slap those hamburgers on the grill, know that they can do more damage to your diet and health than you think. The June UC Berkeley Wellness Letter lists the following reasons ground beef may not be a great meal choice:
* It’s the second-largest source of saturated fat in the American diet, after cheese.
* Its low-fat labels, such as “90 percent lean,” are misleading, because 90 percent lean is 10 percent fat by weight, yet the fat contributes 50 percent of the total calories.
* Ground beef that is 22 percent fat can still be labeled “lean.”
* Ground beef is the meat most likely to contain dangerous E. coli bacteria.
Summer drawbacks
The heat, the humidity, the bright sunshine — all these summer conditions can contribute to seasonal ailments. For example, this is the time of year to watch for signs of athlete’s foot, because sweaty feet and a muggy environment can encourage fungal growth, warns a report in the June issue of Redbook magazine.
Kidney stones may arise as well if you aren’t well hydrated. A high-protein diet also can cause the body to excrete more calcium in the urine, promoting the formation of stones, says Matthew C. Moreland, a family physician at Baylor Medical Center in Waxahachie, Texas. Your best defense is to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily and limit your intake of alcohol and caffeine.
Sit too long in the bright sun and you may trigger a tension headache. And if you’re prone to migraines, the hot, humid weather may kick one off. Try to do outdoor activities before or after the heat of the day and, again, stay hydrated.
Women should watch for vaginal yeast infections, which can develop when you stay in a wet swimsuit too long. They also can arise from the use of deodorant tampons, because the perfumes “alter the balance of bacteria inside the vagina that keep yeast growth in check,” says Pamela G. Rockwell, assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In short, don’t sit around for hours in your wet suit, and use fragrance-free tampons.
The family diseases
If you’re headed for a family reunion, it’s a good time to ask older relatives what diseases may have afflicted Uncle Harry or Grandma Mattie. It’s important to track the births, deaths and major diseases of relatives to see if you should be tested for them earlier or more often.
A handy tool called “My Family Health Portrait” can help you easily map your family’s illnesses. The free site, developed by the National Institutes of Health, can be found at the Web site familyhistory.hhs.gov.
The site automatically will track six chronic diseases — heart disease, stroke, diabetes, colon cancer, breast cancer and ovarian cancer — because the NIH has the best information on how to avoid these diseases. You also can add any others found within your family tree.
Exercise caution
Warming up before a physical activity is important, but if you don’t do the exercises correctly, you could cause an injury, notes a story in the June issue of The Center for Women’s Healthcare Food & Fitness Advisor.
One mistake is to let the knees extend beyond the toes during a lunge or squat. Another is using momentum to lift weights that are too heavy for you. And when using exercise machines, you should always adjust the equipment to your size and ability.
For more information on proper exercise techniques, go to the Web site of the American Council on Exercise, acefitness .org.
