Just as the novel virus Influenza A- H1N1 is rapidly spreading throughout the US, the vaccine has become available and is being administered initially to high-risk groups, which atypically tend to be the young (especially young pregnant women). Though the H1N1 virus is a novel virus, the vaccine is not. The vaccine was made and tested by the FDA in exactly the same way previous seasonal flu vaccines have been made and tested. Both vaccines, seasonal and H1N1, are inactivated flu strains. In fact they are so similar that had the novel virus emerged just a few months earlier, the 2009 H1N1 vaccine would have been included in the 2009 seasonal flu vaccine. The regular seasonal flu vaccine is a mix of the three viruses health experts predict will most likely be the dominant viruses in a given year. I asked Jody Victor®  to give us more details.

Jody Victor®: The CDC recommends that the following groups receive the 2009 H1N1 vaccine first: pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years who are at higher risk because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems.

Additional Frequently Asked Questions concerning the 2009 H1N1 vaccine:

1. Will two doses of vaccine be required? The FDA has approved the use of one dose for persons 10 years of age and older. Infants younger than 6 months of age are too young to get the vaccine.
2. What is the recommended interval between the first and second dose for children under 10? CDC recommends that doses be separated ideally by 4 weeks, but do consider an interval of 21 days to be valid.
3. Can the seasonal vaccine, the pneumonia vaccine and the 2009 H1N1 vaccines be given during the same doctor’s visit? Yes, the inactivated vaccines can be given together. The live 2009 H1N1 vaccine can be administered during the same visit as any other live or inactivated vaccine EXCEPT seasonal live attenuated influenza vaccine.
4. Should a person get vaccinated against 2009 H1N1 if he/she has had flu-like illness since the spring of 2009? The symptoms of H1N1 are very similar to the regular flu and unless you were tested for H1N1 you can’t be sure which virus you had. Specific testing, called “RT-PCR”, is needed in order to discern specific strains. This test is different than rapid flu tests doctors can do in their offices. So if you have had flu-like illness since the spring and did not get the “RT-PCR” test, it is recommended that you get vaccinated. Plus, if you did have the H1N1 virus without test confirmation and now have some existing immunity to it, the additional vaccine will not be harmful.
5. Will there be enough vaccine for everyone? The US Federal government expects that there will be enough 2009 H1N1 vaccine for anyone who chooses to get vaccinated. They have procured 250 million doses of the vaccine. This accounts for the National Institutes of Health data showing that children 6 months to 9 years will need two doses and persons over 10 will need one dose.

All the Best!!

Steve Victor

Native Americans have known the health benefits of squash for hundreds of years. The word squash is derived from the word askutasquash. It literally means, “a green thing eaten raw” in the Nahahiganseck language. The Nahahiganseck Sovereign Nation comprises the Native Americans who lived in the area surrounding Narragansett Bay in present-day Rhode Island, portions of Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts. Squash are actually fruits. By botanical definition, fruits have their seeds on the inside. Squash is very versatile. It can be prepared in many ways: sautéed, grilled, steamed, boiled, broiled, baked, fried, microwaved or freeze-dried. I asked Jody Victor to tell us more.

Jody Victor: The main health benefit from squash is in its fiber. The fiber/bulk fills you up and helps you to skip a second helping. Squash is also a bargain if you are counting calories. A half a cup of squash ranges from 50 to 125 calories, depending on the variety. Squash provides twenty percent or more of your recommended daily requirement for magnesium, potassium and vitamins A, C and E with every 4-ounce serving. Squash is a good source of calcium, antioxidants and beta-carotene as well.

The terms “summer” and “winter” squash refer loosely to when the squash is harvested. But since squash is available year-round, the terms actually group squash varieties by durability. Summer squash varieties contain more water and are thin skinned and bruise easily. Some, such as zucchini, can be eaten raw. Summer squash can last about a week in the refrigerator. Winter squash, on the other hand, have hard, thick skins. Acorn squash is a winter variety. The thick skins of winter squash add longevity to their side. You can keep winter squash in a cool, dark place for up to three months.

Here are some tips for storing squash:

Avoid storing squash near apples, avocados or passion fruit, which have natural ripening agents.

When storing winter squash with woody stems (acorn, buttercup, butternut, turban, and pumpkin), leave a four-inch or longer stem on the fruit.

For fleshy or soft-stemmed squash (banana and hubbard) cut the stems to one to two inches long.

Winter Squash Gratin Recipe:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf

Salt and pepper

½ cup dry white wine

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ teaspoon paprika

1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

Sugar (if necessary)

1 butternut winter squash (2 ½ to 3#)

4 ounces Fontina or Gruyere cheese, sliced

Freshly chopped parsley

Heat olive oil and add the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and a little salt. Cook over medium heat until the onion is soft. Stir frequently. Add the wine and reduce by half. Add cayenne or paprika and the tomatoes. Cook slowly for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick. Taste and add a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes are tart. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the tomatoes are cooking, prepare the squash. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and strings. Place the two halves cut-side down and peel off the skin with a potato peeler. Slice the peeled squash into large pieces about 3 inches long and ¼ inch thick. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat enough olive oil to cover the bottom of a large frying pan and fry the squash on both sides until it is browned and tender. Drain on paper towels and add a little salt and pepper.

Spray a 9 x 13 glass dish with cooking spray. Put tomato mixture in bottom of glass dish. Put a layer of squash in dish, then a layer of cheese. Repeat layering and finish with the top layer of cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and the gratin is hot, about 15 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley scattered over the surface.

(This dish can be made ahead of time, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated until baking time. Baking time will take longer than 15 minutes if starting with a cold casserole.)

All the Best!

Steve Victor

As Americans we have become more environmentally aware and active in the last decade. We have taught our children how important it is to sort trash for recycling and to conserve water. They have learned that those two things are the minimum that you can do and still make a huge difference. These days when students go off to institutions of higher learning they are also entering places of higher environmental education as well. Colleges and universities across America are rapidly implementing all kinds of ways to reuse, reduce, and recycle. I asked Jody Victor® to tell us more.

Jody Victor®: Whether a college is designing new construction or retrofitting older buildings it does everything it can with the latest technology to inflict the lowest impact on the environment. This includes solar panels on roofs, replacing carpeting with wood or tile for easier cleaning and reduction of allergens, installing dual-flush and low-flow toilets, replacing light switches with occupancy sensors or timers, and replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent bulbs. Some colleges are even staging competitions among their students who live in dorms to find inefficiencies and create green solutions.

Campuses across the country have found subtle ways to make a big difference such as trayless dining, a new method of reducing waste and conserving water by keeping students from piling more plates and glasses of food and drink on their trays than they can actually consume. Without trays in the dining hall, there is less food wasted and a lot less dishes to wash. As a positive side effect trayless dining also helps alleviate the dreaded “freshman fifteen”. Colleges are changing over to “Thin Client” computers, a smaller version of the traditional desktop, which consumes a fraction of the energy (5 watts versus over 60 watts of a traditional desktop).

Large college campuses are making large changes. Some have their own waste management systems that rival small cities’ systems. They collect and bale recyclables such as paper, aluminum and plastic and sell them by the truckload for additional revenue for the school. Most large colleges have begun to favor larger mall areas to promote more walking. They have installed miles and miles of bike paths and bike lanes. Some have their own transit systems with around-the-clock bus service. Many of their busses run on biodiesel fuel made from excess cafeteria cooking oil. Even students’ recreational activities have seen big changes. Soccer and other intramural games are played across fields of Astroturf instead of endless stretches of lawns that need mowed and watered.

In recognition of colleges going green, Kaplan has focused its new Kaplan College Guide 2009 for the first time on environmentally responsible schools and green careers. The Guide features 25 green private and public colleges from across the country. Kaplan reviewed a range of criteria to formulate its list of green colleges. Specific areas include: environmentally responsible campus projects; initiatives and courses offered; organizations and student groups on campus; achievements in the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s College Sustainability Report Card 2008. The list highlights schools that have a long-term commitment to sustainability and encourages students to make better choices.

The top five green colleges on Kaplan’s list of twenty-five green schools are:

1. Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Pitzer is getting noticed for their green dorm rooms and bike program.
2. College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Human ecology is the only major subject at this small school. Human ecology is “the study of our relationship with the environment”.
3. Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. They have an organic farm center and use recycled paper and natural cleaning products.
4. Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. This liberal arts school has a car-sharing program and energy monitors in dorm rooms.
5. Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. Harvard has a green cleaning service and organic food in the cafeteria.

The Kaplan Guide for green schools also includes the ten hottest green careers list. They surveyed the course of study of hundreds of undergraduate students and compared the selections against the fastest growing, most competitive global industries tracked by the U.S. Department of Labor. The 10 hot green careers on their list are:

1. Environmental conservation
2. Environmental design
3. Environmental engineering
4. Environmental science
5. Geothermal development
6. Green interior design
7. Hydrology
8. Organic agriculture
9. Solar energy engineering
10. Transportation systems planning

All the Best!

Steve Victor

The human body is equipped with powerful tools for resisting invading microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria and parasites. These tools are known as the immune system. Autoimmunity is when a body’s immune system goes awry by misdirecting its responses and attacking the body itself instead of the invaders. Autoimmunity is present in everyone to some extent. It is a universal phenomenon of vertebrate life and is usually harmless. Autoimmune diseases are defined when the progression from benign autoimmunity to pathogenic autoimmunity occurs. I asked Jody Victor® to give us more details.

Jody Victor®: There are more than 80 types of autoimmune diseases. Learning the symptoms of some of the more common ones can help you recognize the signs if you get one. To complicate matters some autoimmune diseases share symptoms and make it hard for your doctor to find out if you really have one and which one it is.

Here are the symptoms of the most common autoimmune diseases:

Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (underactive thyroid)

1. tiredness
2. depression
3. sensitivity to cold
4. weight gain
5. muscle weakness and cramps
6. dry hair
7. tough skin
8. constipation

Graves’ disease (overactive thyroid)

1. insomnia
2. irritability
3. weight loss without dieting
4. heat sensitivity
5. sweating
6. fine brittle hair
7. weakness in muscles
8. light menstrual periods
9. bulging eyes
10. shaky hands

Lupus

1. swelling and damage to the joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels and brain
2. “butterfly” rash across nose and cheeks
3. rashes on other parts of body
4. painful and swollen joints
5. sensitivity to the sun

Multiple sclerosis (MS)

1. weakness and trouble with coordination, balance, speaking and walking
2. paralysis
3. tremors
4. numbness and tingling feeling in arms, legs, hands and feet

Rheumatoid arthritis

1. inflammation begins in the tissue lining the joint and spreads to whole joint
2. muscle pain
3. deformed joints
4. weakness
5. fatigue
6. loss of appetite
7. weight loss
8. confined to bed in severe cases

If you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease you can take medicines to help with your symptoms. The type of prescription medicine you take depends on which disease you have and what your symptoms are. You might be able to take medicine that helps slow the progress of your disease. Some people can take over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory medicines like ibuprofen and aspirin for pain. Your doctor will advise you which OTC medicines you can take and how much.

In 1982 the Nobel Prize was given to three researchers for their discovery that hormones known as eicosanoids contribute to chronic disease. These hormones include a good chemical that helps cells rejuvenate and a bad chemical that promotes cellular destruction. Since both types of processes are needed by the body eicosanoids have to be in balance. When there is a shift toward the bad chemicals, chronic inflammation and disease develop. All eicosanoids are derived from dietary fat in the form of essential fatty acids. The three essential fatty acids that produce eicosanoids include dihomo-gamma-linoleic acid (DGLA), arachidonic acid (AA), and eicosapentoenoic acid (EPA). DGLA and AA are omega-3 fatty acids. EPA is also an omega-3 fatty acid but is found primarily in fish oil. EPA and DGLA promote cellular rejuvenation whereas AA is a bad eicosanoid that accelerates cellular destruction, aging, inflammation, and disease.

The incidence of autoimmune disease has tripled in the last few decades. Twenty four million Americans are now affected. Environmental toxins are a big contributor to autoimmune disease. Over 80,000 chemicals have been introduced into our society since 1900. Only 550 have been tested for safety. A recent government survey found an average of 148 chemicals in our bodies.  Studies have shown toxins confuse the immune system and set off an autoimmune response. To ward off autoimmune responses, Dr. Mark Hyman, a former autoimmune disease sufferer himself, suggests you get tested for mercury and other heavy metals. He also suggests getting tested for celiac disease, which is an autoimmune reaction to wheat and other gluten containing grains

There is no cure for autoimmune disease but if you are living with one there are things you can do each day to help you feel better:

1. Eat a healthy diet. The list of nutrients for a healthy immune system is long. Try to get all you need from food instead of overloading on vitamins. Eat balanced meals from all the food groups. Increase your intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat or fat-free dairy. Avoid fatty foods.

2. Get plenty of exercise but don’t overdo it. Thirty minutes a day is best. Try gradual and gentle exercise programs such as yoga or tai chi.

3. Get enough rest. Rest allows your body tissues and joints the time they need to repair. Sleeping helps both your body and mind. When you don’t get enough sleep, your stress level and symptoms can get worse. Also- you can’t fight off sickness as well when you have sleep loss. Try to get at least seven hours of sleep every night.

All the Best!

Steve Victor 

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued a report in August 2009 that found that the average American consumes between 150 to 170 pounds of simple sugars, also known as refined sugars, (this includes glucose, fructose, and sucrose) or simple carbohydrates in one year. That’s 150 to 170 pounds per year or one quarter to one half pounds of sugar every day. You may be thinking, “I don’t eat that much sugar.” And you may not. But for every American who eats only 5 pounds per year, there is one who eats 295 pounds per year. To help put some perspective on this- less than a hundred years ago, the average intake of sugar was only about 4 pounds per person per year. I asked Jody Victor® to spell out some healthy alternatives from the AMA.

Jody Victor®: The American Heart Association (AMA) has also issued recommendations based on data gathered during a national nutrition survey between 2001 and 2004. The survey concluded that Americans consume on average 355 calories, or more than 22 teaspoons, of sugar a day. The AMA recommends that most women should limit their sugar intake to 100 calories, or about six teaspoons, a day; for men, they recommend 150 calories, or nine teaspoons. The AMA has previously encouraged consumers to moderate sugar consumption by linking added sugar consumption to obesity but this is the first time they have suggested specific limits. The AMA’s recommendations apply only to what are known as added sugars- those that are added during manufacturing, or by consumers. They don’t include sugar that occurs naturally in fruits, vegetables, dairy products and other foods.

The main sources of added sugar in the diet include soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, fruit drinks, ice cream, frozen yogurt and alcoholic beverages. Dr. Rachel Johnson, professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont, states that added sugars ”offer no nutritional value other than calories to the diet.” Dr. Johnson and her colleagues on the AMA’s nutrition committee based their suggestions on the concept of discretionary calories that are part of the USDA’s dietary guidelines called Mypyramid. Discretionary calories are those allotted to a person beyond what are necessary to consume nutrients essential to a healthy diet while still maintaining a proper weight. Under the Mypyramid guidelines, people on a 2,000-calorie-per-day diet have 267 discretionary calories. Active young people on a 3,000-calorie-a-day diet have 512 discretionary calories. The committee decided that allocating half of the discretionary calories for added sugar was a proper course. For a moderately active middle-age woman on a 1,8000 calorie-a-day diet, the recommendations translate to about 100 calories for added sugar. For a sedentary middle-age man it’s 150 calories for added sugar.

The challenge is figuring out how much added sugar is in different foods. Current food labels don’t list sugar content in calories or teaspoons and they don’t differentiate between natural and added sugars. Consumers are encouraged to read labels and do some math. Example: There are 120 teaspoons in one pound of sugar. This means 1/2 pound of sugar contains 60 teaspoons and ¼ pound contains 30 teaspoons. An average 12-ounce can of soda contains about 8 teaspoons of added sugar. Six teaspoons of sugar equals 100 calories. The AMA’s discretionary sugar calories recommendation for a moderately active middle-age woman is 100 calories. One can of soda is already over the limit! Fruit-flavored yogurt has 6 teaspoons of added sugar. Low-fat chocolate milk has about 4 teaspoons. One cup of frosted whole grain cereal has 3 teaspoons.

Public-health professionals and nutritionists alike say that added sugars in one’s diet contribute to the higher risk of such problems as diabetes and cardiovascular disease among the nation’s overweight and obese consumers. The medical costs associated with treating obesity-related conditions reached 147 billion dollars last year.

Some professionals go so far as to classify refined sugar as a drug or poison because it is depleted of its life forces, proteins, minerals and vitamins. There are dangers to consuming too much sugar in your diet. It can lead to organ malfunction and hormone disruption. When these systems are disturbed and unbalanced, other conditions manifest. Allergies, obesity, degenerative/organ disease, diabetes, depression and behavioral problems can occur. Studies have shown that consuming 20 teaspoons of simple sugars (2 ½ can of soda) can suppress your body’s immune responses considerably. Simple sugars are known to create a 40 to 50 percent drop in the ability of white blood cells to kill bacteria and germs within the body. The immune-suppressing effect of sugar starts less than thirty minutes after ingestion and may last for five hours. By consuming 150 to 170 pounds of simple sugar each year, a person may have up to 80,000 hours of immune suppression.

All the Best!

Steve Victor