Healthy Heart

Q. I recently lost my sense of taste. I can taste spices somewhat. Can you tell me if and how I can get back my sense of taste?

Q. I've been drinking soy milk daily for years. Since it contains phytoestrogens, I wonder if it puts me at higher risk of developing breast cancer?

The FDA has announced that it is extending the date by which manufacturers must implement changes to the Nutrition Facts label. The original deadline was July 2018 (or July 2019 for small companies).

Eating fried potatoes (such as French fries, potato chips and hash browns) two or more times a week was associated with twice the risk of dying prematurely, compared to eating fried spuds no more than once a month, showed a new observational study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

A new observational study in the Journal of Hepatology suggests regularly drinking coffee or herbal tea may help protect against liver fibrosis (hardening due to scar tissue). That's assessed by measuring liver stiffness with a scan.

A dog may provide the nudge you need to be more physically active as you get older, suggests a new study in BioMed Central Public Health.

Newer subscribers to Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter may not know that this award-winning newsletter got its start with Stanley N. Gershoff, PhD, (1924-2017) at the helm. He developed the newsletter (originally called Tufts University Diet & Nutrition Letter) in 1983 and edited it until 2000. There's much more we have to thank him for in the field of nutrition though.

People get headaches for many different reasons. Sometimes they may be triggered by what we eat or drink. Going too long without eating also may trigger headaches.

Advice about how to eat for good health sometimes changes. To you, it may seem like scientists can't make up their minds. What's really happening is that scientists are continually learning new things about nutrition and health through research studies. Experts modify dietary guidance based on the totality of scientific evidence on a given topic.

What foods have you thrown out recently? Maybe some slimy salad greens, moldy bread or a bit of leftover spaghetti? If you can't think of any food you've tossed lately, you're doing better than most of us. Each year, the average family of four throws out over 1,000 pounds of food at a cost of $1,500.