July 2020 Health Newsletter

With Covid-19 and the resulting changes to our day-to-day activities, many of us are spending more time indoors on or in front of electronics and less time exploring and living life.  Kids and teens are statued in front of TVs engaged in Fortnite Battle Royales.  Moms and dads aren't far behind, binging on Netflix and eating up every last available byte of their neighborhood's shared bandwidth.  During these times, let's not forget how to live, to move, to explore.  If you're going stir crazy, if you're stuck indoors consuming copious amounts of bandwidth, we encourage you to take a break from all that heavy streaming of bites and bytes, and take some time to enjoy some living.  Get out of the house.  Throw on a mask and take a walk, a jog, a run or go for a drive.  Check out the birds, the squirrels, count some clouds, get some sun.  Be safe, social distance, but remember to get out of the house!



Since 1990, U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans has recommended no more than two alcoholic drinks for men and one drink for women daily. However, after 30 years that's about to change. The committee of experts responsible for these guidelines now recommend both men and women limit their alcohol consumption to a maximum of one drink per day, at most. A primary reason for this change is the link to cancer. According to researchers, alcohol consumption is the third most common cause of preventable cancer, aside from smoking and obesity. It's also important people understand these guidelines are not recommending adults drink one alcoholic beverage daily. Instead, the guidelines are for those who already consume alcohol to ensure they don't over indulge, as the data shows this increases their risk of death. In fact, the committee experts now explicitly discourage the drinking of alcohol for any reason.

New research based on tracking more than 80,000 women over a decade indicates replacing sugary drinks such as fruit juice and soda with water lowers the risk of developing diabetes. This finding does not appear to be based on higher water consumption in the diet. Instead, the reduction in developing diabetes appears to be related to the reduction in consuming sugary beverages. The more sugar-based drinks and fruit juices consumed the higher the risk of developing diabetes. Specifically, researchers found an approximate 10 percent higher incidence for diabetes with each cup of sugary drink / fruit juice consumed per day. Researchers also found that one cup of coffee or tea was a good replacement for one cup of sugary drink / fruit juice. So by swapping that soda, fruit juice or other sugar-based beverage with water, coffee or tea, additional calories can be eliminated from the diet and more importantly, a reduction in diabetes risk can be obtained.