Why is this night different than all other nights?

A weeklong commemoration of Passover begins at sundown tonight. In Jewish homes around the world, families will gather for the Seder meal, the youngest child will ask four questions, in addition to the one above, and the story of the Hebrew exodus from slavery [...]]]>

Why is this night different than all other nights?

A weeklong commemoration of Passover begins at sundown tonight. In Jewish homes around the world, families will gather for the Seder meal, the youngest child will ask four questions, in addition to the one above, and the story of the Hebrew exodus from slavery to freedom will be read from the Haggadah.

Central to tonight’s celebration is the Seder, a word that means “order.” The ritual feast features specific elements and is presented in the same way generation after generation. And what wonderful elements they are, designed to bring family and friends together to commemorate the past and create shared memories to be passed on. Wine flows, symbolic foods are eaten and tradition is observed.

The Passover plate itself features six symbolic foods—bitter herbs, fruits and nuts, parsley dipped in salt water, a roasted lamb bone and an egg. Matzo, the unleavened bread, gets its own plate of honor.

But there is also a feast. What would any holiday be without an abundance of the foods we long for and that give us comfort? In celebration of Passover, here are five recipes you can’t pass by.

1. Start off with a holiday staple, matzo ball soup. Dayna’s Matzo Ball Soup simmers for two hours and makes a least a dozen tender, comfort-giving matzo balls.

2. Moroccan Charosets combine dried fruits and nuts to create sweet, bite-size appetizers that make a delicious snack any time of year.

3. Ina Garten’s Herb-Roasted Lamb features garlic and rosemary, and takes just an hour and 15 minutes to prepare, not including the 20 minutes the dish will need to rest after being taken out of the oven.

4. Take advantage of what’s in season with roasted asparagus, a side dish that couldn’t be easier to get from the kitchen to the table. Just toss fresh asparagus with olive oil and kosher salt, and pop in a hot oven.

5. Save room for dessert! Wrap up the evening with a Flourless Walnut-Date Cake that features bittersweet chocolate, orange zest and honey. Yum.

A boy from Sydney, Australia has gone from victim to Internet hero practically overnight. A recently posted video shows the 16-year-old Casey Heynes absorbing abuse from a much smaller (and younger) bully before finally snapping, lifting the other boy in the air and slamming him to the concrete — hard. The [...]]]>

A boy from Sydney, Australia has gone from victim to Internet hero practically overnight. A recently posted video shows the 16-year-old Casey Heynes absorbing abuse from a much smaller (and younger) bully before finally snapping, lifting the other boy in the air and slamming him to the concrete — hard. The footage has made the rounds not only online, but onto mainstream media news shows in the U.S., U.K. and Australia. While the school disapproved of the retaliations and suspended both students, the “victim” has become an online hero to others who have suffered at the hands of bullies. The video has spawned a Street Fighter remix (dubbing the “hero” Little Zangief) and seen Casey turned into the Hulkby the Taiwanese computer animators at the infamous NMA News. On Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, he has been applauded for turning the tables on his tormentor.

While it’s always gratifying to see someone get their comeuppance, the video makes us a tad uneasy. It’s hard to ignore the fact that Casey is four years older than the bully he takes out, and almost twice his size. Sure, fighting back against constant mocking and physical assaults is an understandable impulse for many of us, but it’s hard to call body-slamming a 12-year-old heroic.

A healthy diet filled with high intakes of nutrient rich foods could make kids smarter.

Research just published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health says a poor diet high in fat, sugar and processed foods in early childhood may be associated with lower IQ’s later.

The new [...]]]>

A healthy diet filled with high intakes of nutrient rich foods could make kids smarter.

Research just published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health says a poor diet high in fat, sugar and processed foods in early childhood may be associated with lower IQ’s later.

The new study used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, which collected data on children’s diet reported by parents in food-frequency questionnaires at ages 3, 4, 7 and 8.5. Dietary patterns were identified using principal-components analysis and scores computed at each age. IQ was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children at 8.5 years. Complete data was available for 3966 children.

Scientists concluded:

The “processed” (high fat and sugar content) pattern of diet at 3 years of age was negatively associated with IQ assessed at 8.5 years of age. A 1 SD increase in dietary pattern score was associated with a 1.67 point decrease in IQ (95 percent CI −2.34 to −1.00; p<0.0001).

The “health-conscious” (salad, rice, pasta, fish, fruit) pattern at 8.5 years was positively associated with IQ: a 1 SD increase in pattern score led to a 1.20 point increase in IQ (95 percent CI 0.52 to 1.88; p=0.001).

The population-based cohort study was done by Kate Northstone, Carol Joinson, and Pauline Emmett, of the School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK, Andy Ness of the Department of Oral and Dental Science, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK and Tomáš Paus of the Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

* obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 19.6 percent in 2008.
* obesity among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5.0 percent to 18.1 percent in 2008.

Care New England says 25 percent of Rhode Island children are overweight or obese.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced they are raising the nutrition standards for National School Lunch and School Breakfast meal programs for the first time in fifteen years, making critical changes to school meals this fall to help improve the health and nutrition of nearly 32 million kids that participate in school meal programs everyday.

The proposed changes to school meal standards would add more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat milk to school meals. The recommendations are based on the October 2009 report by the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine (IOM), School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Children. Schools would also be required to limit the levels of saturated fat, sodium, calories, and trans fats in meals.

In Rhode Island, health officials say one in five children start kindergarten being overweight. Less than half (42%) of youths in those grades are meeting current physical activity recommendations. Less than one in five (19%) of youths eat fruits and vegetables five or more times per day. More than a quarter (27%) of youths watch three or more hours of TV per day.
In Massachusetts, the childhood obesity rate is 21.4 percent. In Connecticut it is 20.6 percent.

Doctors say obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure, bone and joint problems, sleep apnea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem. They are more likely than youth of normal weight to become overweight or obese adults, and more at risk for associated adult health problems, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.

The school menu improvements come as part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, signed into law by President Barack Obama last December. It is an important component of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation.

Recently, one of the largest new weight studies completed says you don’t have to be obese to raise your risk of premature death – being just overweight can cause problems as well.

New England Journal of Medicine study involved 1.5 million people and concluded healthy white adults who were overweight were 13 percent more likely to die than those whose weight was in an ideal range.

Right now two-thirds of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese according to the CDC.

Overweight begins at a body mass index measurement of 25, obese at 30 and morbidly obese at 40.

Globally kids are packing on the pounds.
A new report last fall by the World Health Organization in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition says the number of young overweight or obese children has increased about 60 percent in the past 20 years.

In 1990, 4.2 percent of kids under age 5 were overweight or obese – in 2010 it is 6.7 percent.

That’s 43 million kids, 81 percent of them live in developing countries. The number is expected to increase to about 60 million over the next decade. At least 92 million young children face the risk of becoming overweight.

Researchers say it will likely hit 9.1 percent by 2020.

Obesity is worse in developed nations than in developing ones.

According to the WHO study, the greatest numbers of overweight young children in 2010 live in South Central Asia, where the estimate is 6.6 million.

The study authors used data from 450 surveys representing 144 countries.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: A better diet may make kids smarter – Providence Children’s Health | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/children-s-health-in-providence/a-better-diet-may-make-kids-smarter#ixzz1DOkN4WTt

Women who are poor are much more likely to be obese but men are not, U.S. government researchers said on Tuesday in a report that contradicts some common perceptions.

They found income does not greatly affect whether a man is obese but that education seems to affect both sexes.

“Among men, [...]]]>

Women who are poor are much more likely to be obese but men are not, U.S. government researchers said on Tuesday in a report that contradicts some common perceptions.

They found income does not greatly affect whether a man is obese but that education seems to affect both sexes.

“Among men, obesity prevalence is generally similar at all income levels, with a tendency to be slightly higher at higher income levels,” the team at the National Center for Health Statistics wrote.

Obesity is a growing problem for U.S. policymakers. Two thirds of Americans are overweight or obese, with 72 million U.S. adults, or 26.7 percent, being obese, with a body mass index or BMI, of 30 or more.

Several studies have linked obesity with both income and education.

The NCHS researchers used data from a national study of 5,000 people that is done every year.

Of the obese adults, 41 percent live in prosperous homes, bringing in at least $77,000 a year for a family of four, or 350 percent of poverty-level income.

They found 39 percent live in homes making between 130 percent and 350 percent of the poverty level, and 20 percent lived in poorer homes with incomes below 130 percent of the poverty level or $29,000 for a family of four.

They found that 33 percent of men living in well-to-do households with income at 350 percent of the poverty level were obese, compared to 29 percent of men who lived below 130 percent of the poverty level.

But income seems to affect a woman’s weight. The researchers found 29 percent of women in well-to-do homes were obese, but 42 percent of women living below poverty level were.

Education plays an important role. Just over 27 percent of men with a college degree were obese compared with 32 percent of those with less than a high school education, while 23 percent of women with a college degree were obese, compared to 42 percent of women with less than a high school education.

A second study found children and teens living in homes with college-educated adults were less likely to be obese, and found stronger associations between obesity and income.

Just under 12 percent of boys and girls living in prosperous homes were obese, compared to 21 percent of boys and 19 percent of girls in the poorest homes.

Body-mass index is the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. A BMI of between 25 and 30 is overweight and a BMI of 30 or over is obese.

A person 5 feet 5 inches tall is classified as overweight at 150 pounds (68 kg) and obese at 180 pounds (82 kg). A 5-foot-10 inch (1.8 meter) tall person who weighs 209 pounds (95 kg) has a BMI of 30 and is obese.

Being overweight or obese raises the risk of heart disease, diabetes, some cancers and arthritis and a study published this month in the New England Journal of Medicine confirmed that adults with a BMI of 25 or more are likely to die than someone the same age who is slimmer.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 today to give final approval to a proposal that would set nutritional guidelines for children’s meals in the city [...]]]> It’s official: McDonald’s has a little over a year to change its Happy Meals if it wants to offer a toy with the meals in San Francisco.

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 today to give final approval to a proposal that would set nutritional guidelines for children’s meals in the city that restaurants would have to follow if they want to continue to offer incentives like toys, tickets or games with the meals.

The rules set limits for the amount of calories, fat, salt and sugar as well as requires meals to have servings of vegetables and fruit. Last week, online diet site CalorieLab theorized what a Happy Meal could look like under the guidelines.

The move overrides a veto by city Mayor Gavin Newsom and means the measure will go into effect Dec. 1, 2011. McDonald’s has been a vocal opponent of the measure, saying that it takes the decision of children’s nutrition out of parents’ hands.

In a statement sent to Consumer Ally after the vote, McDonald’s USA spokeswoman Danya Proud said the company is examining its options and it was too soon to comment:

“As previously stated, we are extremely disappointed with this decision. It’s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for. Public opinion continues to be overwhelmingly against this misguided legislation. Parents tell us it’s their right and responsibility – not the government’s – to make their own decisions and to choose what’s right for their children.”

“Any fair and objective review of our menu and the actions we’ve taken will demonstrate we’ve added multiple options for parents to choose. This includes Apple Dippers (bagged, sliced, pre-peeled apples), low-fat 1% milk, 100% apple juice and Chicken McNuggets made with white meat.

“And, as we have stated all along, we are committed to doing even more. Regarding next steps, we continue to explore a variety of options. It would be premature to further comment or speculate at this time,” Proud said.

San Francisco joins Santa Clara County in California in setting nutritional guidelines for children’s meals with the goal of fighting childhood obesity. Other cities have looked at banning things like soda for New York City food stamp recipients.

http://srph.it/f2R8AE

“What do I do if my turkey is on fire?” “When do I have to put my turkey in the oven to have it [...]]]>
Cooking a turkey isn’t rocket science, but you’d be surprised at how many birdbrained questions people have when it comes to actually preparing the Thanksgiving staple.

“What do I do if my turkey is on fire?” “When do I have to put my turkey in the oven to have it ready exactly by half-time?”

For the past 29 years, silly, strange questions like these have been handled by the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, a free, 24-hour, call-in hot line staffed by expertly trained operators who know the ins and outs of preparing the perfect holiday gobbler.
Butterball turkey hotline
Butterball
Butterball Turkey Talk-Line director Mary Clingman helps a caller in need from the hot line center in Naperville, Ill. A 25-year vet of the Talk-Line, Clingman has fielded every birdbrained turkey question you can imagine.

Headquartered in Naperville, Ill., the Talk-Line is open to callers in the U.S. and Canada throughout November and December by calling 800-BUTTERBALL.

Those who phone in with questions about cooking their Thanksgiving meals are greeted by one of 52 highly qualified turkey pros, such as Talk-Line director Mary Clingman, who’s fielded endless weird calls during her 25 years at the holiday hot line.

Clingman told AOL News that some of her wackiest phone encounters include the time she stayed on the line with a rookie Thanksgiving cook as he wandered aimlessly through a grocery store buying every single one of the ingredients to make his meal. Clingman said the man wanted to be sure he got exactly what he needed, down to the turkey.

Another time, she answered the phone to a frazzled new dad whose wife had just had a baby. The man was nervous that their thawing turkey had been left out too long while they were away at the hospital and when Clingman asked him how much it weighed, the distracted but proud papa replied, “The turkey or the baby?”

Then there’s the year Clingman’s own son called into the Talk-Line for some very basic turkey advice. He was away at college and wanted to cook a Thanksgiving meal for his roommates, but his plan was foiled from the start.

“My son was wondering what to cook the turkey on and had chosen a cookie sheet because he didn’t have a roasting pan. The drippings from the turkey got everywhere, all over his oven, and set off the smoke detectors in his building,” she recounted with a laugh.

Another time, Clingman said a woman called in wondering if it was all right to cook her turkey on a bed of cat litter. Seriously.
Cooked Thanksgiving turkey
Larry Crowe, AP
This year, give yourself a break from complicated turkey preparations or cooking techniques and go with a well-seasoned herb and spice rub for great uncomplicated flavor. With powdered ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and turmeric this recipe gives you the flavors of Morocco.

But, Clingman said one of her all-time funniest calls came from a woman in Colorado who had the bright idea to bury her Thanksgiving turkey in a snow bank until she was ready to thaw and cook it.

“It had snowed heavily the night before, and when she went out to get it in the morning, she couldn’t find it in the snow. She had absolutely no idea where her turkey went; she lost her turkey!” Clingman remembered.

For that particular caller, there wasn’t much practical advice to give, so Clingman simply suggested the woman rush out to the market for a new turkey and maybe put up a red flag as a marker in the snow next time.

Fellow Talk-Line veteran Marge Klindera, who’s taken calls for the past 28 years, can also vouch for some wacky turkey questions over the seasons.

“One call I still laugh over was the man who called in stressed out because the turkey he bought was too big for his oven. As we talked, he decided to wrap it in a towel, take it outside and stomp on it to break a few bones. He finally made it fit into the oven and he was just so proud,” Klindera told AOL News. “That was a great call.”

Of course, not every inquiry that comes into the Talk-Line is bizarre.

Both Clingman and Klindera agreed that the hot line’s No. 1 most frequently asked question revolves around how to thaw a turkey. They said people also fret about overcooking their turkeys and how to tell if they’re actually done.

Klindera’s advice? Buy a meat thermometer and stick it in the bird. It’s that simple.

“It’s the best way to tell when it’s ready,” she said.

Another tip: Take a deep breath and don’t panic about cooking Thanksgiving dinner because, according to Clingman, it’s a piece of cake.

“The turkey is easy; the oven does all the work for you. You don’t have to baste it or turn it over a bunch of times, just let it cook and keep an eye on it. Basting a turkey is like pouring water on a raincoat: it’s not going to do anything. The real key to a moist turkey is to avoid overcooking,” she explained.

Despite the easiness of preparing a fine holiday feast, the ladies still get tons of frantic calls each year, with people on the verge of tears on the other end.

They chalk up the panic to the pressures associated with cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a big group, especially if the in-laws are coming over.

“We can help you, even in those moments of total despair, when you think dinner is ruined,” Clingman insisted. “It’s not over. You can almost always save your turkey.”

“We never get stumped [on questions], either. We can always figure out some sort of solution. We’re here to hold your hand and reassure you that it’s going to be fine. We’re like calling your mom,” Klindera added.

Except, of course, these surrogate mothers have a lot more on their plate around the holidays.

Klindera said the Talk-Line takes at least 100,000 calls from folks every season — 10,000 to 12,000 calls on Thanksgiving Day alone, when it’s open for questions between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

After a long season of helping strangers with their turkey troubles, Clingman and Klindera admitted that they’re not exactly pumped up to cook Thanksgiving dinner for their own families.

Luckily, their loved ones understand and usually take over the holiday cooking duties instead. Clingman and Klindera just show up to eat.

Being a guest to Thanksgiving dinner instead of hosting? Now, there’s something to be thankful for.

Everyone knows that brown rice is healthier than white, but is black rice the fairest of them all?

Like its paler sibling brown rice, black rice is high in vitamin E, iron, fiber and antioxidants, but a new study suggests that it may also alleviate inflammation associated with allergies, [...]]]>

Everyone knows that brown rice is healthier than white, but is black rice the fairest of them all?

Like its paler sibling brown rice, black rice is high in vitamin E, iron, fiber and antioxidants, but a new study suggests that it may also alleviate inflammation associated with allergies, asthma and other diseases.

An overlooked variety of rice sometimes known as “forbidden rice” because only emperors were allowed to eat it, black rice is still relatively rare in the West. Both black and brown rice retain many of the nutrients lost to white rice during processing, but black or purple rice is believed to be superior to brown varieties for several reasons.

For one, black rice rivals other deeply hued foods in its anthocyanin content, a potent antioxidant that can help protect against cancer and heart disease. Anthocyanins are found in purple, red and blue foods such as berries, grapes and eggplant. According to Zhimin Xu, an associate professor at the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University, one spoonful of black rice bran — or 10 spoonfuls of cooked black rice — contains the same amount of anthocyanin as a spoonful of blueberries. In fact, Xu believes black rice is more nutritious than blueberries thanks to its low sugar content.

It may also have anti-inflammatory properties. Earlier studies done in cell cultures suggest that black rice suppresses the release of histamine, the neurotransmitter that causes inflammation in response to allergic reactions. The current study, published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, looked at the effects of black rice bran extract on skin inflammation in lab mice. The research was conducted at universities in Korea. Researchers found that feeding mice their standard diet supplemented with 10 percent black rice bran significantly suppressed chemically induced inflammation of the ear skin as compared to mice fed a diet without black rice bran or a diet supplemented with 10 percent brown rice bran. Prolonged inflammation is associated with a host of medical conditions, including allergies, heart disease, cancer and infectious diseases. Researchers are optimistic that in the future, foods containing black rice bran may be used to treat or prevent conditions associated with inflammation. To be sure, black rice is a healthy addition to any diet, but more research is needed before we start adding it to our Cheerios.

In the meantime, look for black or forbidden rice at Asian markets or buy it online. Keep in mind that the health benefits are found in the outermost layer (the bran), so it’s important to buy whole-grain varieties.

No, that’s not a misprint. The behemoth pizza chain, Domino’s, is embarking on quite the marketing gimmick. For its 25th Anniversary in Japan, the company is offering up 25 different offers ranging from free food and discount coupons to a delivery job at the rate of $31K (2,500,000 yen) an hour.

A White Plains, N.Y. man is suing Bumble Bee Foods alleging mercury poisoning from eating the company’s canned tuna.

Forty-eight-year-old Lee Porrazzo says he ate about 10 cans of tuna a week for nearly two years because he thought it was a healthy way to obtain protein. When he [...]]]>

A White Plains, N.Y. man is suing Bumble Bee Foods alleging mercury poisoning from eating the company’s canned tuna.

Forty-eight-year-old Lee Porrazzo says he ate about 10 cans of tuna a week for nearly two years because he thought it was a healthy way to obtain protein. When he suffered unexplained chest pains in 2008, a blood test showed he had high levels of mercury in his blood, 23 micrograms per liter, the New York Post reported.

According to Dr. Raphael Darvish with Concierge Medicine in Los Angeles, doctors testing for mercury poisoning want to see levels of 5 micrograms per liter or less. “Anything above 50 micrograms per liter is considered acute and the result of chronic exposure,” he told AOL Health.

Does Porrazzo have a valid claim? Given the fact that health professionals repeatedly advise consumers not to eat more than 5 ounces of tuna or other large fish per week, Porrazzo’s consumption does seem excessive.

Darvish says most cases of mercury poisoning are the result of fish consumption. And frequently people don’t even know they have above normal levels of mercury in their systems. “Most people don’t have symptoms,” he adds.

Darvish says there hasn’t been enough medical research to determine just how dangerous mercury poisoning is and said there is no way to rid the body of mercury. “We just tell patients [with mercury poisoning] to strictly avoid eating tuna, shark or swordfish,” he says, “but it takes a long time for the mercury to go away.”

Porazzo, who is also suing Stop & Shop, where he bought his tuna, says his mercury levels are back to normal but that he has lost weight and is worried about the long-term effects of mercury poisoning.

While some researchers have theorized mercury poisoning may lead to premature heart disease, Darvish says the relationship isn’t clear. Nevertheless, he believes it’s better to be safe than sorry and advises consumers to eat no more than one serving of tuna, shark or swordfish per week. “They’re big fish, and big fish have longer life spans, allowing more mercury to accumulate in their systems,” he explains, pointing out that fish caught close to urban areas are more likely to be infected with mercury.

Darvish does not believe people with mercury in their tooth fillings should be concerned, however, as it takes a large amount of exposure to raise mercury levels in the blood. He says pregnant women or women hoping to become pregnant should avoid eating large fish like tuna, as fetuses exposed to mercury can suffer brain damage.

A Bumble Bee spokeswoman told the Post that, to the company’s knowledge, there’s “never been a case of mercury toxicity from eating commercial seafood in the U.S.” and that “alarmism” on this issue “can have an adverse impact” on people’s health. Stop & Shop declined comment.

Darvish says mercury poisoning from consumption of fish is not likely fatal, but he still advises people to consume large fish in moderate amounts.

We’ve followed all of the weight-loss rules, trading our lunchtime burger and fries for a salad, cutting back on snack foods and sweets, choosing fat-free over full-fat whenever possible. So if we’re doing everything right, why is the needle on the scale stuck — or worse, moving in the wrong direction?