Your health: Addicted to food?
Are you addicted?
If you think you might be addicted to food, consult your doctor who might refer you to a specialist.
A physician or therapist might ask questions to help pin down signs of substance abuse. Author Michael Prager outlines those questions in his book “Fat Boy Thin Man.” Here's a sample:
• Do you increase the amount you eat over time to achieve the same effect?
• Do you spend lots of time and effort to obtain food and recover from overeating?
• Do you sacrifice other activities to accommodate your overeating?
To get help, try these resources:
• Overeaters Anonymous: (505) 891-2664 or visit oa.org.
• Food Addicts Anonymous: (561) 967-3871 or visit foodaddictsanonymous.org.
• American Psychological Association: locator.apa.org.
Eye disease down
The percentage of people with age-related macular degeneration has dropped significantly in 15 years, perhaps because fewer people are smoking cigarettes, a known cause of eye disease.
The rate of people aged 40 and older with the disease has dropped from 9.4 percent to 6.5 percent, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study published in the January issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
“It may reflect changes in smoking behavior and other factors and exposures that are subject to intervention,” said lead author Dr. Ronald Klein, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences and population health sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.
Still, age-related macular degeneration remains a leading cause of vision loss and affects about 1.75 million Americans, according to the National Eye Institute.
Folic acid for health
You may wonder if taking extra folic acid will boost your immune system. Here's the lowdown on the vitamin from Harvard Medical School.
Folate is vital for the production and maintenance of our bodies' cells, especially during rapid periods of growth, such as pregnancy and infancy. It's needed to make DNA and RNA, the genetic material that dictates cell functions, and it helps prevent changes to DNA that may lead to cancer.
For most healthy adults, the Recommended Dietary Allowance of folate from both natural and synthetic sources is 400 micrograms a day. Pregnant women should take more — 600 mcg a day — to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in their babies.
The Tolerable Upper Intake Level for folic acid from supplements or fortified foods is 1,000 mcg a day. Naturally occurring folate from foods is not associated with any health risk, so get as much of your daily requirement as you can from a healthy diet. If that's not possible, take a multivitamin that contains 400 mcg of folic acid.