Friday, June 28, 2013

Cellphone ‘Distracted Walking‘ Sending Pedestrians to the ER

Pedestrians are becoming more likely to be injured while using their cellphones and an estimated 1,500 were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2010 as a result, a new study finds.
 
It‘s impossible to know how many of the injuries could have been avoided if pedestrians weren‘t using their cellphones. The study also doesn‘t determine whether the injuries are on the rise simply because more people are using cellphones.
 
Whatever the case, study author Jack Nasar said the findings show that cellphone use isn‘t just a danger to drivers. It‘s also a hazard to those who are only strolling.
"Stop walking when you‘re going to take a cellphone call or text. Don‘t do two things at once," advised Nasar, a professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University who studies cellphones and distraction.
 
Nasar and colleagues previously reported that pedestrians on public streets are more likely to have close calls with cars if they are using their cellphones. In the new study, the researchers sought to understand the risk on a national level by examining a federal database of emergency room visits from 2004 to 2010.

The investigators found that the estimated number of pedestrian injuries linked to cellphones -- including those that had nothing to do with cars, such as walking into something -- varied from as low as 256 to as high as 597 between 2004 and 2007. The numbers then jumped to 1,055 in 2008, 1,113 in 2009 and 1,506 in 2010.
 
Deaths are not included in the study. It also doesn‘t break out injuries by seriousness; some injuries were minor.
The study gives details about some injuries that have been reported. In one case, a 21-year-old male suffered a sprained elbow and spinal sprain when he was hit by a car while on his phone. In another, a 28-year-old man walked into a pole and lacerated his brow. And a 14-year-old boy fell several feet off a bridge into a ditch, bruising his chest.
 
People under 31 were among those most likely to be hurt while walking and using a cellphone, with those aged 21 to 25 sustaining the most injuries, followed by 16- to 20-year-olds. Men were slightly more likely (53 percent) than women to be pedestrian victims.
 
The estimated numbers of injuries to pedestrians on cellphones were roughly equal to those of drivers who were on cellphones. Even at the height in 2010, however, the estimated injuries accounted for fewer than 4 percent of all estimated injuries to pedestrians.
 
Nasar said the estimates in the study may greatly underestimate the risk of cellphone use to pedestrians.
 
John Lee, a professor with the department of industrial and systems engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who studies distracted driving, said the new research has weaknesses. "It could be that cellphones are associated with a greater number of injuries simply because it is more likely that people are using a phone at the time," he said, "and it is hard to know if cellphone use actually causes these mishaps or is even associated with them."
 
Still, Lee said, "this research is consistent with other studies that show a cost of multitasking. Technology tempts us to try to do many things at once, but our ability is severely limited."
 
What should be done? Study lead author Nasar called for more awareness, but he doesn‘t support laws banning use of cellphones by pedestrians such as there are in some states for drivers.
 
The study appears in the August issue of the journal Accident Analysis and Prevention.
More information
For details about pedestrian safety, try the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Will Kate Middleton Breast-Feed the Royal Baby?



John Stillwell - WPA Pool/Getty Images(LONDON) -- A British television reporter is challenging Kate Middleton to breast-feed in public. Beverly Turner wrote in an op-ed in theTelegraph newspaper, "What we really need is The Duchess of Cambridge to get her Royal orbs out to feed our future monarch. And to be applauded -- not seethed at -- for doing so."

Turner, a mother of three herself, called on women with "power and influence to get their milky bosoms out and feed smiling in paparazzi pictures."

Leigh Anne O‘Connor, La Leche League leader, agreed, telling ABC’s Good Morning America: "If we‘re seeing our role models and our iconic images positively breast-feeding, that absolutely will have a positive impact on breast-feeding."

If Kate Middleton does breast-feed, she may not be the first royal to do so. It was reported that Princess Diana also breast-fed her children. ABC News Royal Contributor Victoria Murphy said, "I think quite possibly what happened was it was the first time…as time went on, it became something that people talked about. Perhaps she was the first one that people were aware of having done it."

But breast-feeding a baby isn‘t a given for any mom, royal or not. Breast-feeding rates in the U.K. have dropped, with about 6,000 fewer women choosing to do so in 2012 as compared to the prior year.

In the U.S. the number of moms who choose to breast-feed is on the rise.

Mom of three and Babble.com blogger Heather Spohr tried breast-feeding all her kids, but was never totally successful. Still the pressure to do so was immense.

"It made me think that maybe I wasn‘t cut out for this whole motherhood thing," Spohr said. "The choices that she and Prince William make for breast-feeding are theirs and theirs alone. They don‘t have to be the poster child for breast-feeding or formula feeding for that matter."

Still, experts think if Kate can, Kate will.

"My opinion is absolutely that Kate will very much want to [breast-feed]," said Murphy. "She‘s going to be off with the baby, she‘s going to be looking after it and I think she‘ll be very keen to give her child that start."

"I see no reason why she wouldn‘t unless she can‘t, unless there is a reason. Some women can‘t, but I believe that she intends to," Murphy continued.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Baked Avocado-Egg Bowl

This recipe and photo were created by contributor Aylin Erman of Glow Kitchen. Learn more about Aylin and this recipe by checking out her accompanying post.
I never fathomed baking an avocado — the thought of it actually puts me off. But after seeing the avocado-egg image appearing on my favorite food blogs, I decided to try it out for myself (with a bit of a twist). This recipe is super easy and quite delicious. It includes two healthy fats: avocado and egg yolk. With some sheep‘s milk feta cheese and a dash of spice, it goes without saying that I was pleasantly surprised!


Recipe: Baked Avocado-Egg Bowl

Serves 2
 
What You‘ll Need:
Baked Avocado Egg
1 avocado
2 eggs
2 ounces feta cheese
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Dash of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes
 
What To Do:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Slice the avocado lengthwise, twist the two sides, and pull apart. Remove the pit.
  3. Make the hole in the middle of each half of the fruit a bit bigger by scraping out some of the meat with a spoon. (This is so that the hole can accommodate the whole eggs!)
  4. Lay the avocado halves skin-side down in a baking dish.
  5. Carefully crack one egg in each avocado half‘s core.
  6. Season with salt and pepper, and drop pieces of the feta cheese on top of the egg.
  7. Place the baking dish in the oven for 15 minutes, or until the egg is cooked to your liking.
  8. Season with the red pepper flakes and serve with chopped parsley. 
Have you tried the famous baked-egg-in-an-avocado trick? What‘s your favorite variation? Share with us in the comments below! 

Thank Ancient Humans for That Fastball

Humans may not run faster than a cheetah or swim better than a shark, but they out-throw other species, experts say. And the reasons for that may lie far back in evolution.
People‘s ability to throw balls and other objects fast and accurately is a trait that developed nearly 2 million years ago to help our now-extinct ancestors hunt with rocks and sharpened wooden spears, new research suggests.
 
"We think that throwing was probably most important early on in terms of hunting behavior, enabling our ancestors to effectively and safely kill big game," study lead author Neil Roach, of George Washington University, said in a university news release. "Eating more calorie-rich meat and fat would have allowed our ancestors to grow larger brains and bodies and expand into new regions of the world -- all of which helped make us who we are today."
 
Superior throwing skills are unique to humans, the researchers noted, and even our chimpanzee cousins can‘t come close to matching us.
 
"Chimpanzees are incredibly strong and athletic, yet adult male chimps can only throw about 20 miles per hour -- one-third the speed of a 12-year-old little league pitcher," Roach said.
 
He and his colleagues used a 3-D camera system to record the throwing motions of collegiate baseball players. They found that the shoulder acts much like a slingshot during a throw, storing and releasing large amounts of energy.
 
"When humans throw, we first rotate our arms backwards away from the target. It is during this ‘arm-cocking‘ phase that humans stretch the tendons and ligaments crossing their shoulder and store elastic energy," Roach explained. "When this energy is released, it accelerates the arm forward, generating the fastest motion the human body produces, resulting in a very fast throw."
 
The researchers also found that certain structural features in the torso, shoulder and arm make this energy storage possible.
The findings, to be published July 27 in the journalNature, may have important implications for athletes. For example, baseball pitchers throw much more often than our ancient ancestors did.
 
"At the end of the day, despite the fact that we evolved to throw, when we overuse this ability it can end up injuring us," said Roach, a postdoctoral scientist in the university‘s Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology.
 
More information
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons discusses throwing-related elbow injuries in children.
 

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Superman's workout: Henry Cavil reveals "Man of Steel" workout



Warner Bros. Pictures(NEW YORK) -- The workout plan that turned Henry Cavill into the “Man of Steel” was a super tough regimen, but it’s not just about exercise.  It’s also about eating a lot, according to his celebrity trainer, Mark Twight.

Twight also trained Russell Crowe, who Twight says dropped 40 pounds for his part as Superman’s father, Jor-El.

“What is the secret?” ABC News’ Abbie Boudreau asked Twight.

“The secret is a well-kept secret called commitment and self-discipline,” Twight laughed.

Twight said Cavill’s transformation started by packing on 20 pounds, sticking to a strict 5,000 calorie intake.

“What was he eating?” Boudreau asked.

“We didn’t care,” Twight responded.  “If he decided, ‘Look, I can get an extra thousand calories by eating pizza, I’ll do it.’”

Then the hard part came for the 30-year-old British actor. Cavill endured intense, two-hour workouts, five or six days a week, for a grueling 11 months.

“What we are trying to do is use physical means to basically prepare a person or change them in a psycho physical way so they can actually play a role in this context,” said Twight.  “So you need a guy to look like Superman?  It will be better if he feels super in order to transmit that message."

“I would have to say that Henry turned into a man on this show.  And not only in terms of physically -- he made enormous changes -- but in the way that he carried himself in relating and adapting to other people,” Twight added.
 
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Swap It: a easy guide for healthy substitutions on your dinner plate.

Everyday someone pledges to start a diet, never eat chocolate again, skip the bread, and give up some other food favorite.  And of course usually within days, hours or even minutes, you give in and feel like you failed at your attempts to be healthier.  Well you know longer need to skip it, its time to learn to swap it for a similar food that is slightly lower in fat, calories or sugar.  Take a look at some simple swaps, that will still satisfy your taste buds without the guilt.
 
Instead of:       Swap With:
Sour cream on a potato             Choose non-fat greek yogurt for the same rich texture without the fat
 
Sugary cereal                             Choose whole grain cereal and add sliced fruit to give it natural sweetness
 
Croutons on a salad                   Choose chopped walnuts for a crunch that also helps lower your bad cholesterol 
 
Margaritas                                   Choose red wine, which has about 1/10 the amount of sugar and will provide valuable antioxidants
 
Butter                                               Choose a vegetable oil based spread, which replaces a bad fat with a good fat
 
White Rice                                       Choose quinoa, which is a protein based grain that also contains fiber
 
Granola                                            Choose high fiber cereal, gives you the crunch without the fat
 
Avocado in Guacamole                    Choose to cut down on the avocado and add in some cooked zucchini to save unnecessary fat
 
Mashed Potato                                Choose cauliflower, when mashed save the calories, 29 per cup versus 120 for the potato
 
Vanilla Ice Cream                            Choose frozen cool whip which is lower in calories and fat with the same creamy taste
 
Mayonnaise                                     Choose dijon mustard for great taste without the fat
 
Potato Chips                                    Choose kale chips, giving you the nutrients from these leafy greens, along with the crunch, leaving the fat behind
 
Beef Burger                                      Choose a turkey burger for a hardy meal that is leaner and lower in cholesterol

5 Healthy Rhubarb Recipes from Around the Web

5 Healthy Rhubarb Recipes from Around the Web


 


Rhubarb is one tricky ingredient. It‘s ripe for pickin‘ in early summer, grows in long, tie-dyed stalks vaguely reminiscent of celery, and has leafy tops (which are not usually used in cooking) that resemble Swiss chard. Raw rhubarb is extremely sour, which is why it‘s usually a) cooked and b) prepared with sweet ingredients. On top of everything, it‘s still up for debate whether this colorful early-summer plant is a fruit or a vegetable. But there‘s hope at the end of the tunnel. Rhubarb is actually pretty easy to cook with, and adds tons of flavor and pep to all kinds of summery dishes. So next time you see those confusing stalks at the market, grab a few stalks and dive in with these five tasty recipes. 
Rhubarb Strawberry Crumble via Local Kitchen
Before getting too crazy, let‘s revisit the classic. Sweet, in-season strawberries (seriously, grab as many as you can before June‘s over!) pairs perfectly with sour rhubarb. This crumble, made with whole-wheat flour and not too much sugar, gets our vote.
 
Rhubarb Crumble
Photo: Kaela / Local Kitchen
Grilled Rum-Glazed Pork with Rhubarb Chutney via The Seasonalist
Rhubarb is usually paired with sweet stuff, but why restrict it to the dessert table? Smoky, spicy grilled pork gets a savory, tart boost when it‘s topped with a sauce made from rhubarb, vinegar, onion, and lime zest.  
Rhubarb Pork
Photo: Christopher and Victoria / The Seasonalist
Rhubarb and Ginger Mojito via Girl Cooks World
If you‘re sick of the whole rhubarb-strawberry combo, this is your drink. Mix up a batch of simple syrup flavored with rhubarb and ginger, and then add white rum, seltzer, lime, and plenty of fresh mint. Ahhh.
Rhubarb Mojito
Photo: Cate / Girl Cooks World
Rhubarb and Gin Sorbet with Rose Cream via Apt. 2B Baking Co.
There‘s something pretty mind-blowing about a sorbet recipe that uses gin as one of the main ingredients. This fragrant, totally grown-up dessert would be a perfect finish for a classy summer dinner party. 
Rhubarb Sorbet
Photo: Yossy Arefi / Apt. 2B Baking Co.
Roasted Rhubarb and Strawberries via Food52
This ain‘t your mama‘s strawberry-rhubarb dish. The classic combination gets plenty of savory, sophisticated flavor when combined with vermouth, maple syrup, balsamic vinegar, and salt. Roast the mixture for 40 minutes, then use it to top ice cream, yogurt, or even toasted bread.  
Roasted Rhubarb
Photo: James Ransom / Food52
Did we miss any of your favorite recipes? Have a theme you‘d like to see in next week‘s The Greatist Table roundup? Share your thoughts in the comments below or tweet the author @SophBreene.

Ice Cream Bread?

While doing research recently, I came across a recipe for Ice Cream Bread on the Taste of Home‘s website. It had a four-out-of-five star rating. 
I glanced at it and remembered I had flagged an e-mail about this recipe from the Taste of Home‘s public relations folks. It caught my eye then because, besides sounding interesting, the recipe makes a mini-loaf. Readers are always asking me how to pare down recipes or make smaller versions of some of their favorite foods.
 
But when the recipe turned up again this week on a Facebook post by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Food Editor Nancy Stohs, I knew I couldn‘t ignore it any longer. Though I must admit my first thought was, this is just plain odd. You‘re supposed to eat ice cream cold. And aren‘t there better uses of ice cream, which in my house is a real treat? And, besides, who wants to waste good-quality "full-fat" ice cream (as the recipe recommends) making bread?
 
But I just had to try it.
 
The bread is made by stirring together ice cream, sugar and self-rising flour. That‘s it. (Don‘t fret if you don‘t have self-rising flour; you can make your own as noted in the recipe.)
 
I tested it using two different ice creams: Southern Butter Pecan Crunch and Triple Brownie. Both were the deluxe versions of store brands and both were on sale. I didn‘t want to waste $4 on a pint of premium ice cream when I could get nearly a half-gallon for $2.50.
 
An Internet search turned up all sorts of comments and recipes that used a variety of ice creams. Some even added fruit, like blueberries and bananas, to the batter, with good results.
 
The first thing you need to know: The ice cream needs to be softened so it mixes easily with the flour. Scoop out what you need, place in a bowl and let it sit out a good 30 minutes. The rest is gravy: Mix the two with sugar, spoon the batter into a loaf pan sprayed with nonstick spray and then bake.
 
Easy as pie.
 
Although mine seemed to take longer to bake, the end results were fine. The bread tasted sweet. I expected the butter pecan bread to taste the best, but it had a floury taste. The triple brownie tasted much better.
 
A coworker noted that one use for this bread would be to serve it with more ice cream.
 
Tempting, isn‘t it?
___
ICE CREAM BREAD
 
Makes: 1 mini-loaf (6 servings) / Preparation time: 5 minutes
Total time: 25 minutes plus cooling time
Nonstick cooking spray
1 cup butter pecan ice cream or favorite ice cream, softened
3/4 cup self-rising flour (see cook‘s note)
1 tablespoon sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Coat a mini (5 3/4-inch-by-3-inch-by-2-inch) loaf pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the ice cream, flour and sugar. Transfer to the loaf pan.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.
Cook‘s note: As a substitute for self-rising flour, place 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a measuring cup. Add all-purpose flour to measure 3/4 cup.
From Taste of Home (www.tasteofhome.com). Tested by Susan M. Selasky for the Free Press Test Kitchen.
Analysis per 1 slice:
217 calories (17 percent from fat), 4 grams fat (2 grams sat. fat), 18 grams carbohydrates, 3 grams protein, 217 mg sodium, 8 mg cholesterol, trace of fiber.
 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Think they’ll Replace Paula Deen with a Vegan?

I posted that question on my “Eat Vegan on $4 a Day” Facebook page of 23,000 fans this week. The most popular response was “Keep dreaming!” And so I do. 
For those of you who don’t follow the Food Network, Paula Deen was a good ol’ Southern-cooking gal with a popular show who eventually disclosed that her constant reminders to cook everything deep fried with tons of butter gave her diabetes. Worse, she didn’t disclose this and then began promoting an anti-diabetes drug that made her even more money. When all of that became public a year later, many demanded she be taken off the air, to no avail.
 
But her recent disclosure that she had used the “n” word frequently in the past was her undoing and within days, The Food Network announced it was cancelling her show. As a former TV investigative reporter, I am still surprised at how people who have everything going for themselves can shoot themselves in the foot.
 
About a year ago, I sat next to a man who as it turned out, owned several network-affiliate broadcast stations. He had a wife who was vegan and claimed to know decisions makers at the Food Network. He asked what big city TV market I was closest to. He asked, and I submitted, a proposal for a half-hour show. He eventually got back and said his investors pushed back, fearing objections from meat and dairy advertisers. And so the story has always gone…as I say in my book, “No money in broccoli. No lobby, association, board or corporation that makes it.”
 
What I hope that some TV network will “get” is that the popularity of shows like Paula are what is killing us as a country. All of us pay for the uninsured who check into hospitals by the minute with preventable diseases of affluence: diabetes, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, high blood pressure, and recently categorized for insurance purposes this week as a “disease,” obesity. We all pay for these diseases, whether is you, me, the government or insurance corporations.
 
 Ironically, this same week, popular, gifted actor James Gandolfini dropped dead of a heart attack, reportedly just after eating 2 servings of fried shrimp, faux gras and a pina colada. There has been much discussion about that too on social media, whether that’s what caused his death and whether it’s too soon after his death to talk about a suspected cause without an autopsy. One only has to look at current photos and read accounts of “how he did love his food,” (as if the rest of us don’t) to imagine that he probably wasn’t in the best of health, for whatever reasons. 
 
Whether or not an autopsy confirms suspicions, it’s time that people make say, enough is enough. I suspect that even though as I prepare for the National Senior Games in a month clocking a :08 50 meter dash, and briefly clocking a 5 minute-mile, at 60, even with 2 Emmys and 18 years TV news under my belt, I am not the next Paula Deen candidate. After all, at the end of my TV career, I was told by the station’s makeup consultant, “40 is never too young to have a facelift, and the more often you have them, the more effective they are long term. You just don’t get to be Barbara Walter’s age and look like that.” Since I knew someone who almost died from a facelift complication, I knew I would never get a facelift. The only magic bullets left were diet/exercise. 
 
And so, I gladly concede TV entertainment to the young, unless some angel out there thinks that a reasonably well-preserved, accomplished sprinter and endurance runner (very rare to do both), trained vegan cooking class instructor (2 times a day, 5 days week at the peak when the classes were free at the community center) has something to offer that was as important as Paula Deen. If so, well by golly, you know where to find me. Otherwise, I’m more than content running most days on our pristine beaches, fielding the barrage of great questions I get on my social media pages, doing YouTube videos and traveling on book tour at the request of my publisher and others. You can lead a horse to water, but you sure can’t make it drink. Gotta run!
 
Ellen Jaffe Jones is the author of “Eat Vegan on $4 a Day,” and just released, “Kitchen Divided-Vegan Dishes for Semi-Vegan Households.” She is a certified personal trainer/running coach and for availability, can be reached at www.vegcoach.com

Her call-in “Veg Vixen” radio show is Tuesdays, 10 a.m. on www.annamariaislandradio.com. Column from "The Anna Maria Island (FL) Sun" 06-23-13