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March Health News
A trendy water bottle toted by the stars; teen smoking addiction issues; why you shouldn't double dip; and more.
Water ... With Flair
Now that the weather's getting a bit warmer and you're out and about, you'll need to tote your water with you somehow, right? But buying water all the time is expensive, and besides, who wants to fill up landfills with tons of plastic? Our stylish solution is a water bottle from SIGG (shown). These gorgeous bottles are made from aluminum, with a nontoxic lining that is built to be "taste neutral" (in other words, your drinks won't have a weird chemical flavor). You can use them over and over and over (just hand wash with mild soap), and they last forever. Another nice thing about buying one? SIGG donates 1% of all sales to environmental causes. Turns out, we're not the only ones who like these bottles. Half of Hollywood (including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kate Hudson and Drew Barrymore) has been snapped carrying one around, and even New York's famed Museum of Modern Art had one on display. Go to www.mysigg.com to see all the latest designs; there are a ton, and new ones are being introduced all the time.
Smoking and Teens
Everyone knows nicotine is addictive, but now researchers are starting to believe teens can become addicted to the drug more quickly than adults. A recent New York Times article says that the brains of adolescents become tolerant to nicotine — even after smoking less than one cigarette a day! This tolerance leads them to crave another smoke sooner. It was once thought that you could only become addicted to nicotine if you were puffing on a few cigarettes a day, but that seems not to be the case for everyone studied. Some teens reported feelings of addiction after trying a cigarette for the very first time. This is alarming for a lot of reasons, mostly because teens who start to smoke are often unable to quit, and almost all adult smokers report that they started their habit in their teen years. What's the lesson here? Avoid smoking like the plague (including that occasional "just at a party" puff) because your brain may like it way too much.
The Great Outdoors' Losing Battle
Don't get us wrong. We love, love, love watching TV, getting online, and playing video games. But we were really bummed out to read a recent Associated Press article that highlights an alarming trend: People are spending less and less time outdoors. Researchers (funded by the Nature Conservancy) looked at visits to state and national parks, as well as hunting and fishing licenses. Declines, which started in the 1980s and '90s, coinciding with the rise in video games, are up to as much as 18 to 25 percent in various outdoor recreation activities.
Why is this so bad? Well, as the article points out, it's not great for our health to be stuck indoors all the time, replacing physical activity with more sedentary pursuits. It is exercise that keeps us fit and fighting problems like obesity and diabetes. It also makes us feel better mentally, too. Researchers are also concerned that people won't care as much about keeping up our national parks or investing in conservation movements because they won't have personal connections to those spaces.
Being one with nature may sound like kind of hippy-dippy, but it is a pretty awesome and unique experience, and hard to get while rocking out to Guitar Hero. If you go on spring break, take some time to explore what your area has to offer. Or ask your family to plan a vacation where you'll be outdoors some of the time. It's good for you, and it's good for our planet, too.
Don't Double Dip
It's one of the most famous Seinfeld episodes of all time: George gets into a fight after taking some dip, eating from his chip, and then dipping again, with the same chip. Eww! Gross, yes, and also unhygienic, says a study by Clemson University. Students working on the study took a bite of cracker, then dipped it in dip, and repeated the process a few times. Then they tested to see if the dip had been contaminated. Had it? You bet. There were about 10,000 bacteria in there, and they figured that each time you double dip you transfer about 50 to 100 bacteria from your lips to the bowl. Another way to think about the whole thing? According to the professor leading the study: "Before you have some dip at a party, look around and ask yourself, would I be willing to kiss everyone here? Because you don't know who might be double dipping, and those who do are sharing their saliva with you."
