Healthy Heart

Q. My dentist recommended using a prescription fluoride toothpaste. If the water in my city is already fluoridated, does that contribute to the risk of possible overdose?

Q. Your recipes sometimes call for wrapping food in aluminum foil to cook, such as in your June 2014 Simple Salmon & Trio of Herb Sauces. Id prefer to limit my exposure to aluminum and wonder if there is an alternative method.

If you grew up thinking of nuts as a not-very-good-for-you indulgence, theres a growing pile of evidence that should change your mind about these healthy foods. For a long time, consumers thought that coffee raises blood pressure, eggs cause heart disease, chocolate is an unhealthy treat, and nuts make you fat, says Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, director of Tufts HNRCA Antioxidants Research Laboratory. However, such conclusions were often based on very little science and several mistaken assumptions. The latest news in nuts rehabilitation comes from two studies spotlighting the heart-health benefits of almonds and peanuts.

Wine drinkers may be less likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee, while drinking beer is associated with greater risk of osteoarthritis in both the knee and hip. Writing in Arthritis Research & Therapy, British researchers reported those findings from an analysis of nearly 3,000 participants in the Genetics of OA and Lifestyle study.But dont change your drinking preferences based on this study alone. The interpretation of these observations is complicated by the relatively weak nature of evidence from the retrospective case-control study design used by the studys authors along with the lack of supporting evidence in the literature for this relationship, says Paul F. Jacques, DSc, director of Tufts HNRCA Nutritional Epidemiology Program.

Not so long ago, avocados were a seasonal delicacy in most of the country, and when they were available, their high fat content scared away health-conscious consumers. With loosened import rules from Mexico, however, sales of Hass avocados (about 95% of the US market) have more than doubled in the past decade. Last year, Americans peeled about 4.25 billion avocados, and in February avocados even boasted their own Super Bowl commercial.

Brushing off worries about the caffeine content in energy drinks, the European Food Safety Authority issued a draft risk assessment stating that single doses of up to 200 milligrams and daily consumption totaling 400 milligrams of caffeine are safe for adults. The agency, which functions for the European Union much as the Food and Drug Administration does for the US government, also said that high single doses were safe when consumed less than two hours…

In what may prove a landmark ruling for food and beverage health claims, a US appeals court largely upheld a Federal Trade Commission order requiring proof of promises made for a popular pomegranate-juice drink. In its original 2010 order, the FTC had challenged magazine advertisements for POM Wonderful that claimed the beverage combats heart disease and other ailments. The appeals-court ruling overturned the agencys requirement that two human clinical trials back up such claims in all cases as too onerous. But the three-judge panel agreed that the ads were misleading and that at least one randomized clinical trial could be required to substantiated any claims of treating or preventing disease.

Take a look in your pantry. Do you see whole-grain pasta? Does the label on your bread say 100% whole wheat? (Are you sure? Dont be fooled by terms like multigrain.) Is your breakfast cereal made with whole grains?We are very fortunate these days-for almost any type of baked product there is a whole-grain option that one can choose in place of the refined-grain option, says Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, director of Tufts HNRCA Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory. Just be careful; dont try to judge whether something is made from whole grain by its color. It is important to read the label the first time, just to make certain. Some light-colored products are made with white whole grains and some dark-colored products are not and just appear so because caramel or other coloring was added.

Older people who are highly fit, such as recreational cyclists, are physiologically more similar to young people than to more sedentary seniors. Thats the conclusion of a new British study that sought to explore the effect of physical activity on key indicators of aging. As one scientist put it, Being physically active makes your body function on the inside more like a young persons.

Molds are microscopic fungi that live on plant or animal matter, which can sometimes be seen with the naked eye. These organisms give off spores, which are responsible for their color. While many molds are harmless and beneficial, such as cheese, some molds cause allergic reactions and respiratory problems. Similarly, a few molds, under the right conditions, produce mycotoxins-poisonous substances that can make you sick. In many foods, mold invades deep within the food-not just on the surface. In some cases, toxins may have spread throughout the food.