Lifestyle

For those of us who were young during the “fad diet years”, self-criticism and always seeking to change our body can seem normal. Many of us grew up watching women around us constantly seeking to make their body smaller, through endless cardio or any of the various fad diets.

Q: My wife and I recently became parents and, because there is a history of food allergy issues in our families, we have been reluctant to give our baby girl any high-risk foods, like nuts, egg, cow’s milk, soy, and wheat products. I saw an article on the internet that indicated this might not be the right approach to help her avoid food allergy problems in the future. Is there any solid scientific evidence for this recommendation?

A Pastor and a taxi driver both died and went to heaven. St. Peter was at the Pearly gates waiting for them. ‘Come with me’, said St. Peter to the taxi driver. The taxi driver did as he was told and followed St. Peter to a mansion. It had anything you could imagine from a bowling alley to an Olympic size pool. ‘Wow, thank you’, said the taxi driver. Next, St. Peter led the Pastor to a rugged old shack with a bunk bed and a little old television set. ‘Wait, I think you are a little mixed up’, said the Pastor. ‘Shouldn’t I be the one who gets the mansion? After all, I was a Pastor, ran a church, and preached God’s word.’ ‘Yes, that’s true. But during your sermons people slept. When the taxi driver drove, everyone prayed.’

According to some historians, peanut butter was first introduced to the USA at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. When more people learned about peanut butter and had a chance to taste it, it became very popular. But there are other accounts that suggest it was already here.

It all starts with the question: is too much stress good or bad for us? Many of us already know the answer to that. Too much stress is definitely not a good thing. Stress, in the right amounts and at the right times, can be very helpful and adaptive for us. But too much stress can lead to a host of health problems and even depression.

Q: I’ve been having intermittent pain on the outer hip area and along the thigh for several weeks, worse when I’m walking up even a gradual slope or on a level surface. I was telling a friend about it and he suggested I buy a Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) unit, which can be obtained without a prescription. It arrived in the mail a few days ago, but the instructions that came with it are very brief and not very useful. Can you help me use it correctly?

Q: I had COVID about 2 years ago (proven by testing at the Health Department) and ever since I recovered from the acute symptoms, I haven’t been able to smell much of anything. My husband will come down the hall to the kitchen while I’m cooking and remark how good it smells, but regardless of what I’m cooking, I can’t smell it.

As we are now into our wonderful Upper Peninsula summer season, let’s review the health benefits of maintaining proper hydration. Human dehydration is generally defined as a potentially harmful reduction in the amount of water in the body, due to either not taking in enough water and fluids, or due to an excessive loss of body water.