In Question

A recent study said low-fat diets don’t prevent disease. So is junk food OK to eat?

Junk food is still not healthy, but you’re not the only one wondering after recent headlines questioned the benefit of low-fat diets. The debate began with the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), a landmark health study of nearly 50,000 women ages 50 to 79. Early in 2006, WHI researchers announced that women who ate a lower-fat diet for eight years did not have significantly lower rates of breast or colon cancer or heart disease than women who ate higher-fat diets. However, there was not a big difference in the amount of unhealthy fat (saturated and trans fats) consumed by the two groups. The women on the low-fat diet cut back on all types of fats, including those that are healthy (unsaturated). Experts believe that this may have influenced the results.

What causes that sharp
“brain freeze” headache you get when eating ice cream?

“Brain freeze,” the intense, stabbing headache you get from eating ice cream fast or gulping an icy-cold drink, doesn’t actually harm your brain. Scientists believe that the reaction begins in the roof of your mouth. When something very cold touches the nerves there, blood vessels inside the head widen slightly. This causes a sudden, sharp pain in the forehead or around the eyes. To prevent this, eat and drink cold things slowly, warming them up in the front of the mouth before swallowing.

How important is it
to get my kids vaccinated for chickenpox?

If you haven’t discussed this with your children’s doctor yet, that’s the best place to start. Their doctor knows their medical history and can help you weigh the pros and cons of the vaccine. Chickenpox is generally a mild illness, but it can be very uncomfortable. It can cause fever, nausea, headache and itchy rash with blisters that break open and crust over. There can be a few blisters or hundreds. It can take up to two weeks for them to heal enough for the child to return to school or day care. This can mean a lot of missed workdays for working parents. Chickenpox also sometimes leads to serious complications, such as skin infections or pneumonia. Experts consider the vaccine to be a safe way to spare most children from suffering through this preventable illness.

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