Which type of sweetener is best? E2
Health CONSUMER REPORTS INSIGHTS
The Checkup
6voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup
oca-Cola, Gatorade and other drinks now come in versions made with “real” sugar as opposed to high- fructose corn syrup. That form of sugar is in the nu- tritional doghouse these days, as some people say it’s linked to health problems including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Fear of high-fructose corn syrup has led some people not only to regular sugar but also to other options they think are more healthful. Given the likely connection between sugar and America’s growing obesity epidemic, that seems like a good thing. But is turning to other forms of sugar or sweeteners really the solution? Here are answers to ques- tions about sugar and its alternatives.
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Is high-fructose corn syrup really worse for you than other forms of sugar? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean it’s health- ful. Some researchers suspect that the sugar, which is made from cornstarch processed with certain enzymes and acids, is more fattening than other forms. But high-fructose corn syrup has just as many calories as table sugar and is nearly indistin- guishable chemically, too: It’s half glucose and half fructose. In- stead, many experts say that the problem is simply that Amer- icans today consume too much of it. Is “natural” sugar somehow better? If you mean the sugar that occurs naturally in fruit, dairy products and other foods, then yes. That’s not because it’s inherently more healthful but simply because it comes with all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients those foods contain. But brown or raw sugar is just as nutritionally bereft — and has just as many calories — as white sugar or high-fructose corn syr-
up. Honey and maple syrup may taste great, but they contain few if any nutrients. How much added sugar is too much? A marketing cam- paign from the Corn Refiners As- sociation, an industry group, suggests that you can get up to 25 percent of your daily calories from added sugars. For support, they point to a report from the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine that sets that figure as the upper limit for sugar consumption. For the aver- age 50-year-old woman and man — who should consume 2,000 and 2,400 calories a day, respec- tively — that would mean 500 and 600 calories a day from add- ed sugar. But that misrepresents the in-
stitute’s report. It simply states that if you get more than 25 per- cent of your calories from the nu- tritionally empty ones in added sugar, it’s virtually impossible to get all the nutrients you need from the rest of your diet. That’s why the American Heart Associ- ation says that women should get
ALAMY
no more than about 100 calories a day from added sugars and men no more than about 150. Beyond obesity, what health problems are linked to sugar? Other than dental cavities, not as many as you might think. Some research suggests that high sug- ar consumption may be linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Another found that drinking two or more sugar-laden soft drinks a week almost doubled the risk of pancreatic cancer. But it’s un- clear whether those risks come from the sugar itself or the extra calories, or if people who con- sume lots of sugar have addition- al poor habits that increase those risks.
Other problems long associat- ed with sugar have been largely overblown, research suggests. For example, Type 2 diabetes
isn’t caused by consuming lots of sugar, though excess calories from any source do increase the risk by causing weight gain. Fi- nally, while many parents still think that sugar causes hyperac- tivity in children, studies going back at least 15 years have found that isn’t the case. How can I cut back on added sugar? Start with soda, since it’s the leading source of added sug- ar in the typical American’s diet. Watch out for other beverages, too, especially ready-to-drink teas, sweetened alcoholic or caf- feinated drinks, and juice drinks. When you crave something sweet, opt for fresh fruit. Re- member to read food labels, too, because added sugar often shows up in unexpected places and of- ten with unfamiliar names. Copyright 2010. Consumers Union of United States Inc.
Why it’s smart to buckle up in flight
Last week, 21 people on a United Airlines flight out of Dulles International Airport were injured when their plane encountered severe turbulence. The aircraft apparently dropped dramatically and then abruptly stopped falling, causing people to bounce around the cabin. Most of the injuries were said to be relatively minor, although one passenger’s were described as serious. It’s not clear how many of the injured were wearing seat belts or whether they’d been advised to do so. The Federal Aviation Administration recommends that passengers wear their belts throughout a flight, even when the seat-belt light has been turned off.
Only about 60 people a year are injured during turbulence. But almost of all them, the FAA says, were sans seat belts. — Jennifer LaRue Huget
The readers spoke: In an online poll in response to the question “Do you wear your seat belt during the entire flight?” 93 percent of 771 participants said yes, 6 percent said “most of the time” and 1 percent said no, they’d “rather take the remote chance of being injured than be uncomfortable.”
KLMNO
V1 V2 V3 V4
TUESDAY, JULY 27, 2010
ALAMY Injuries are rare for people who keep their seat belts on. HEALTH SCAN BLADDER CANCER In partnership with
For further guidance, go to
ConsumerReportsHealth.org. More-detailed information — including CR’s ratings of prescription drugs, treatments, hospitals and healthy-living products — is available to subscribers to that site.
Long-term-care benefits are a long way off INSURING YOUR HEALTH
Michelle Andrews
mong the most important questions involving the health-care overhaul are how seniors will be affected. Here are two of the biggest pocketbook issues.
A When am I going to be able to
start collecting benefits under the law’s new long-term-care program?
Not anytime soon. Even if you were to start contributing to the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) program as soon as it’s up and running — probably in 2012 — you wouldn’t be able to begin collecting benefits until 2017 at the earliest. The voluntary insurance
program is intended to help offset some of the costs of long-term care and help people who have functional or cognitive disabilities stay in their communities rather than be institutionalized. It will pay out a cash benefit that will average at least $50 per day. The precise amount of the benefit will vary depending on someone’s degree of disability. Unlike private long-term-care
insurance, which may permit benefits to be used for home health care but cover few other home-related services, CLASS benefits will be able to be used in a variety of ways that would help
people stay in their homes. Interior doors could be widened to accommodate a wheelchair, for example. The benefits could also be used to pick up part of the costs for nursing home care, if necessary. People will be automatically enrolled in the CLASS program if their employers participate, although individuals can opt out. Premiums will be deducted from paychecks. There will be an alternative enrollment process for the self-employed and for those whose employers don’t participate.
But in order to receive
benefits, you must pay monthly premiums for at least five years. And the program is open only to people who have been employed for at least three of the five years that they’ve been paying premiums.
So if you don’t work, whether because you’re retired or are unable to work for some reason, the CLASS program is not going to help you. Also, you can’t enroll until the
secretary of Health and Human Services spells out details about the benefit; that’s expected by October 2012.
When will the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap close?
The coverage gap, or OPEN24HOURS
Together, we may be able to help put insomnia to bed for others in the future.
The Insomnia Study is conducting a research study to evaluate an investigational drug designed to work differently than available treatments. If you experience episodes of insomnia or are dissatisfied with your current insomnia treatment, youmay be eligible to participate.
There are risks associated with any investigational drug. The study doctor will discuss with you the potential benefits and risks that may be associated with participation in this clinical research study.
To learnmore, contact:
Sleep Disorder Centers of The Mid-Atlantic
703-752-7881
EVERY DAY THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF WAYS THE POST HELPS YOU.
If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. SF612Tiph 2x4 Coming Aug. 10
A special Aging Well edition of Health & Science.
“doughnut hole,” in which Medicare beneficiaries are responsible for paying 100 percent of their drug costs, won’t close completely until 2020. But the gap starts closing this year, with $250 rebate checks sent to seniors whose drug spending lands them in the doughnut hole. An estimated 4 million beneficiaries will receive checks this year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Some 380,000 checks have been mailed out already, according to HHS. Additional checks will be mailed monthly to beneficiaries after they enter the coverage gap. Here’s how the gap works in a standard Medicare Part D drug plan in 2010: After a $310 deductible, seniors pay 25 percent of the first $2,830 in total drug costs. Then they enter the doughnut hole and must pay the next $3,610 completely on their own. After that, the plan kicks in again and the enrollee pays 5 percent of the costs. Closing the gap doesn’t mean that seniors get off the hook
entirely: It means that the percentage of the costs that they’re responsible for will gradually decrease from the current 100 percent to 25 percent in 2020. That’s the same proportion of their drug costs that they pay before they reach the doughnut hole. The gap will start to close next
year, when seniors will get a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs while they’re in the doughnut hole and a 7 percent discount on generic drugs. By 2016, seniors who reach the doughnut hole will pay 45 percent of brand-name drug costs and 58 percent of generic drug costs. And so on, until in 2020 they’ll be responsible for 25 percent of drug spending overall until their drug costs are so high that they have to pay only 5 percent of the total.
This column is produced through a collaboration between The Post and Kaiser Health News. KHN, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health-care-policy organization that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente. E-mail:
questions@kaiserhealthnews.org.
The column is on vacation this week. AnyBODY
RESERVE. RESTAURANT REVIEWS IN THE SUNDAY MAGAZINE.
READ BEFORE YOU
Not just for old men VOGUE, AUGUST ISSUE In the newest issue of Vogue, former model Patti Hansen, wife of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, opens up for the first time about her 2007 battle with bladder cancer. She gave the interview to help remove the stigma of bladder can- cer in women. “It’s not something people talk about,” Hansen says. “When I found out that I had it, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is an old man’s disease.’ ” Hansen, now 54, had chemo- therapy and her bladder removed and replaced by a “neoblad- der” fashioned from part of her intestine. Her husband did not handle the news well. “He thought I was a goner,” Hansen says. Richards’s manager, Jane Rose, recalls: “He would say, ‘Rather me than her!’ He could not get beyond that. It was aw- ful.”
NUTRITION
A long menu of candidates APPS FOR HEALTHY KIDS As part of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” childhood obesi-
ty initiative, the Department of Agriculture has challenged the public to design games and online tools that promote healthful foods and active lifestyles. People can vote for their favorite among the whopping 95 finalists through Aug. 14 at
www.appsforhealthykids.com/application-gallery. One of them, “Food Focus,” challenges younger children to figure out which fruit is pictured in a close-up photo while nutritional information about it pops up underneath as clues. The slick “Smash Your Food” game asks players to guess the amount of sugar, salt and oil in items such as hamburgers, french fries and pizza — a tough task even for a nutritionist, because the game doesn’t reveal portion sizes. The big payoff is pulling the “smash lever,” which squishes the food in a metal vise, and hearing and seeing the big, gooey mess.
— Rachel Saslow
QUICK STUDY MENTAL HEALTH
Pear-shaped older women may suffer worse memory loss than others
THE QUESTION Does an older woman’s weight affect the workings of her brain, including her memory? THIS STUDY analyzed data on 8,745 women, 65 to 79 years old, who were generally in good health and had no evidence of cognitive decline. The women completed standardized tests for mental functioning and had an array of physical meas- urements recorded, including body mass index (BMI, an in- dicator of body fatness, based on a person’s weight and height). In general, the higher a woman’s BMI, the lower she scored on memory tests. The effect was most pronounced among pear-shaped women (whose fat is carried on the hips) than apple-shaped women (who have more of their fat around the waist). WHO MAY BE AFFECTED? Older women. Memory problems are common as people age. Loss of brain cells starts in the ear- ly 20s, so forgetting a name or where the car keys are is nor- mal by age 60 or so. Other things have been shown to affect memory, too, including depression, alcohol and drug use, stroke and dementia (which also affects broader thinking ability and involves forgetting how to do once-familiar tasks and how to get someplace frequently visited). CAVEATS Nearly all study participants were white; whether the finding applies equally to other races is unknown. The rea- son weight and fat distribution may affect memory remains unclear.
FIND THIS STUDY July 14 online issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. LEARN MORE ABOUT memory loss at
www.fda.gov and www.
familydoctor.org.
— Linda Searing
The research described in Quick Study comes from credible, peer-reviewed journals. Nonetheless, conclusive evidence about a treatment’s effectiveness is rarely found in a single study. Anyone considering changing or beginning treatment of any kind should consult with a physician.
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