Buying food locally has a number of advantages for a community, from the added health benefits to boosting the local economy. For one, getting food from local sources cuts down on the need to ship food long distances, which decreases the use of fuel. The average food item sold in a supermarket travels more 1,500 miles from a farm to the kitchen. As a result, fruits and vegetables in grocery stores … [Read more...]
UConn Prof. Helps Link Nighttime Light, Disordered Sleep & Cancer Risks
A plethora of studies have been published in recent months linking inadequate sleep to obesity, diabetes and stroke. Now, a recent review by the American Medical Association found research that suggests disruptions of the circadian rhythm due to nighttime light could also play a role in the risk of breast cancer, as well as of ovarian, prostate and colorectal cancers. The work of University of … [Read more...]
Hartford Ranks High Among Country’s Healthiest Cities
Hartford often gets a bad rap for crime, poverty and the quality of its education, but it recently received high praise for its level of health and fitness. Among the nation’s 50 fittest largest metropolitan areas, the Hartford area recently was ranked 5th. Only the San Francisco, Calif. Boston, Mass., Washington, D.C. and Minneapolis, Minn. areas ranked higher. The ACSM (American College of … [Read more...]
Get Smart About Nutrition With Smartphone Apps
Smartphone Apps and other mobile technology have proven to be powerful tools for tracking and managing health over the past few years. If my own explorations in the iPhone App Store in the last year are any indication, the number and variety of applications (and their scope of usability) will continue to grow exponentially in the years to come. Currently, there are apps that can take your blood … [Read more...]
Where Connecticut Ranks Among Nation's Smoggiest Metro Areas
by Renée Canada While the state of Connecticut enjoys many honorable distinctions, one of its latest associations is nothing to brag about. Bridgeport, CT, along with New York, NY and Newark, NJ, makes up the fifth smoggiest metropolitan area in the country to date in 2011, according to a report released Wednesday by Environmental California. The area had among the highest number of smoggy days … [Read more...]
What You Don't Know About Food Can Sometimes Hurt Ya
by Renée Canada Yesterday I got that annoying, telltale reaction that tells me something’s off in my body: a rough rash and puffy sensation around my lips. I remember commenting on it but just chalking it up to my body’s reaction to decreasing my dose of prednisone again. Over the last several weeks as I’ve been weaning myself off the medication, I’ve been having infections and odd reactions in … [Read more...]
Connecticut Leads Nation in Banning BPA in Receipts
by Renée Canada On June 9, Connecticut become the first state in the nation to ban the chemical bisphenol A, otherwise known as BPA, in “thermal receipt paper” that customers receive at retailers, banks and gas stations. The chemical is used as a coating on receipt paper so that it prints in color when heated. BPA is not bound to the paper, as it is to, say, baby bottles, making it easily … [Read more...]
Pesticides from GM Crops Present in Bloodstream of Unborn Babies
by Renée Canada There has been much debate about the safety of genetically modified, or GM, foods since they were first put on the market in the early ‘90s. The industry has stood by its claim that any potentially harmful chemicals from pesticides added to crops—like soybeans, canola and corn—would pass through the body with ill-effect. However, the results of a study published earlier this … [Read more...]