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Getting the Facts on Gardasil

What is Gardasil? Gardasil is a relatively new vaccine for young women ages 9-26 that protects against four types of human papillomavirus (HPV). The vaccine is injected in three doses over six months.

What is HPV? HPV is a virus! Gardasil protects agains four types of HPV: 6, 11, 16, and 18. Types 6 and 11 cause 90% of genital warts cases and types 16 and 18 cause 70% of cervical cancer cases.

Why is Gardasil for girls as young as 9 and women who are 26? The age range is such because these were the ages included in the clinicial trial. Also, like any vaccine, Gardasil works best when given before there is contact with the HPV virus, and studies have shown that most contact occurs in a woman's teenage years and early twenties.

Get more information at: www.gardasil.com

Cholesterol and Numbers To Know

Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like substance that is found in your body’s cells. Cholesterol is found in certain animal-based foods, but can also be manufactured by your body. Cholesterol cannot dissolve in your blood. To travel to your cells, cholesterol uses a carrier called low density lipoprotein (LDL), which is called, “the bad kind.” Too much LDL cholesterol can build up on the inner walls of your arteries and cause a heart attack or stroke. The “good kind” or“happy” carrier is HDL, or high density lipoprotein. It carries harmful cholesterol away from the arteries. Ideal ranges for cholesterol are as follows:
- Total less than 180 mg.
- HDL (good) 45 mg. or higher
- LDL (bad) less than 100 mg.

In some cases medication may be prescribed to reduce cholesterol. This should be discussed with your physician. Other ways to help lower the bad cholesterol would be:

1. Eat low-fat, low cholesterol, high fiber foods
2. Decrease your intake of high fat foods
3. Lose weight, if you need to
4. Exercise

To learn more, talk to your doctor or health care provider, or call your local American Heart Association.

Health Tips

It happens to the best of us. You pick up a banana muffin at your local coffee shop, take a quick glance at the wrapper, and see it has 225 calories. “Not so bad,” you think. “I deserve a treat this afternoon.” You happily munch away the muffin, washing it down with a virtuous nonfat latte.

But later, back at the office, just before you throw away the muffin wrapper, you give it a second glance and realize the serving size is set at a measly two ounces, and your treat contained three servings! That means you just ate 675 calories, not to mention 45 grams of fat!

Everyone can benefit from reading food labels, even if it’s just to get a better idea of what we’re putting into our bodies. Today consumers can take a quick glance at the ubiquitous food label — finally standardized in 1994 — and obtain a precise reading of the calories, total fats, protein, carbohydrates, and nutrient content in most store-bought foods.

Here’s what you need to know:
Start by looking at the calories and the servings per container. How many servings are in the package you’re buying? Next, most people should look at the first section of the food label, which lists the nutrients most Americans get too much of — fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Talk to your doctor about what nutrients you should be getting if you have a particular health condition, and focus on this section of the food label to make better choices.

People hoping to ward off high cholesterol, a weight problem, or a heart condition, for example, should pay particular attention to saturated fats. People consuming about 2,000 calories a day shouldn't exceed around 65 grams of fat in total each day, and fewer than 15 grams of that should be saturated fats. According to Institute of Medicine guidelines issued in 2005, men age 50 and under need 38 grams of fiber a day.

Eat a variety of foods. At the supermarket, buy one new fruit and vegetable each week. At home, try one new recipe or prepared food a week. The point is to become more familiar with the foods you’re putting into your body. You just might find out that one food you’re eating that you thought was pretty healthy is actually bad for you.

Spring Into Wellness

March is National Nutrition Month -- "Eat Right" is the theme from the American Dietetic Association to help us "focus on the importance of making informed food choices and develop sound eating and physical activity habits." Here are some great websites to give you more information:

American Dietetic Association: www.eatright.org

Tools for Healthier Lives: www.mayoclinic.com/index.cfm

Healthy Ohio: www.healthyohioprogram.org/

Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz: www.realage.com

which provides 65 health tests, tools, and personal advice.               

Healthy Holiday Eating Tips

Eat a healthy snack before leaving home.  This will reduce the risk of overeating at the party.

Go to the party with a plan.  Check out the buffet first, and then decide what and how much you will eat.  The foods you select should fit into your meal plan.

Bring a dish.  Contribute your favorite healthy dish to the holiday buffet.

Savor every bite.  Eating slowly reduces your chances of eating too much.

Drink water.  Water is a healthy, no-calorie beverage.  (Compared to one cup of eggnog that has 342 calories!)

Trim the fat from the meat.  Each tablespoon of fat you trim off contains 100 calories.

Be the life of the party.  Stay active by focusing on party activities instead of the buffet table.

Offer a variety of low fat, high fiber foods.  There are lots of healthier options — consider fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, grilled or broiled lean meats, fish, turkey, and chicken without the skin.  Reduce the use of mayonnaise, oil, and butter.  Increase fiber with whole grain breads, peas, and beans.

Serve healthy alternatives to traditional holiday dishes.  Transform traditionally high fat and high calorie foods into low fat healthier versions.  You can use nonfat of 1 percent milk instead of whole mile or cream.  Try to bake or broil foods when possible instead of frying.  Skip cream cheese and try low fat cottage cheese or plain yogurt.

Be a support system for your family members and friends.  If you see them slipping, keep encouraging them to eat healthy during the holiday season, and throughout the year.

To find out more about preventing and/or controlling diabetes, call the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) at 1-800-438-5383 or visit www.ndep.nih.gov.

Ten Tips for Winter Wellness

1. Go for a walk even when the weather is really cold; your body has to work overtime to get warm, and you may burn up to 50% more calories than you would on the same walk in summer! But remember, go a little slower until you get warm, and keep up the hydration. Be careful with snow and ice.
2. If you find it hard to get motivated to exercise in winter, just think of spring and how much harder it is to get back into shape rather than maintain your fitness throughout the winter.
3. Be aware of tendonitis and stress fractures if you don't exercise in winter, and don't expect to pick up where you left off after a whole winter with no exercise.
4. Instead of picking up a cup of hot chocolate to keep warm, try a herbal beverage.
5. Gain an interest in indoor sports as opposed to cycling and jogging outdoors. Don't forget that swimmin at an indoor pool is an option for a great cardio workout!
6. The cold air and indoor heaters can dry out your skin. Make sure you drink at least 8 glasses of water each day and use moisturizers throughout winter.
7. Buy some indoor plants to soften up the dry atmosphere caused through heating. Indoor plants give off moisture and oxygen, and the colors will brighten up a dull day outside.
8. Caught a cold or flu? If the infection is above the neck (nose, throat), you could be OK to complete a low intensity workout. However, if you have symptons that are worse than an average cold (chest congestion, muscle aches), exercise will only make you worse and delay your recovery. Rest is the best medicine.
9. Wear the right clothes when exercising in winter. Polypropylene is the perfect fabric to wear underneath a tracksuit, which will provide great insulation but minimize moisture loss. Gore-Tex is a fabric used widely for providing protection from the rain and wind.
10. Feel like sitting on the couch with a video and snacking on a cold wet day? Reach for a protein bar or packet of soy nuts instead of high energy, high fat snacks.