Posts Tagged ‘healthy habits’

BPA and Related Chemicals Linked to Fat Gain, Breast Cancer Risk

I drink water out of my glass (protected by a silicone outer sleeve) or stainless steel water bottle and buy foods such as spaghetti sauce in glass jars rather than cans, as I wrote about in a 2012 Think Pink, Live Green column. That’s because I’m trying to avoid bisphenol A, called BPA for short. BPA is a chemical used in hard plastics, the …

Exercise: Every Little Bit Helps

Five years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting a new patient, Sheila (not her real name), who was 45 years old, a busy working mom with young kids, and about 30 pounds overweight. Her extra weight worried me because it increases the risk of breast cancer recurrence and other health problems.

After acknowledging the everyday challenges of weight management, we went right to solutions. …

An Update on BPA

Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been in the news a lot lately. It is a manmade chemical used in many rigid plastics, the lining of food cans, cashier receipts, and other products since the 1960s. BPA is being phased out because it is a hormone disruptor. That means it may mimic or block a hormone or affect how natural hormones, such as estrogen, behave in …

Kids and Chemicals in Plastic: What Are the Risks?

No matter where you get your news, you’ve probably learned quite a bit about how chemicals in plastics could affect your health. It’s especially important to know that any concerns raised about how these chemicals affect adults are magnified when it comes to babies and young children.

There are a few reasons why babies and young children are more vulnerable than adults to environmental factors, …

Can Dry Cleaning Really Be Green?

What happens to clothes at the dry cleaners was always a bit of a mystery to me. I know there’s some sort of chemical process going on — how else could everything get so clean without falling apart? But while I’m careful about the products I use when I wash clothes at home and I’m concerned about dry cleaning chemicals, I haven’t asked my dry …

Airport Body Scanners Are Less Revealing — and Less of a Health Risk

I think plane travel is a miracle. A few short hours in the air can take me to far-flung loved ones or mean the difference between a regular day at home and a fabulous adventure. It always amazes me to know that I can wake up at home and go to sleep someplace halfway around the world all in the same day.

Still, air travel …

Food Label Findings

Recently while grocery shopping, I came across a box of tasty-looking breakfast bars. The front of the box promised they’d give me nutritious, sustained energy, but the food label on the back told me the real story. The bars had less fiber and protein and more sugar and sodium (salt) than my usual breakfast cereal. Yikes! They were really just cookies in disguise.

It wasn’t …