Salmonella Scare Sparks Salami Recall
Daniele Inc. says that it will recall 18 varieties and 1.24 million pounds of its meat products after consumers got sick from eating the company's salami, Reuters reports. The company thinks the source may be salmonella-tainted coarse black pepper used in some of its products. So far, 11 people have been infected with salmonella after eating Daniele's "salame." The infections could be part of a larger multistate salmonella outbreak, Reuters reports, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture says a link has not been confirmed.
[Read Riskiest Foods: 3 Tips for Protecting Your Family From Illness and 4 'Harmless' Acts That Could Give You Food Poisoning.]
Why the Mayo Clinic Diet Includes Quick Weight Loss
It's pretty much a given that sensible diet programs do not endorse quick results. "Slow and steady wins the race" is the usual advice, and 1 to 2 pounds is the suggested weekly weight loss. That advice kicks in on Page 69 of The Mayo Clinic Diet (Good Books), but only after an initial "Lose it!" phase that promises a weight loss of 6 to 10 pounds in two weeks. Why is the venerable institution endorsing quick weight loss in the first diet it has ever produced? U.S. News's Katherine Hobson talked to Donald Hensrud, medical editor-in-chief of the book and chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
Hensrud says that people know they need to eat less and exercise more; they just can't put it into practice. "There are a tremendous number of things [influencing lifestyle behaviors]: what we grew up with, what our brain tells us, what our stomach tells us, our habits," he says. "If all these things influence what we eat and how we move, the challenges that we experience are similarly diverse. For one person, it may be more about physical activity than diet. For another, it's about not skipping breakfast and being ravenous later on. People need simple, practical advice on what to do about these things," Hensrud says. Read more.
[Read 'Full Plate Diet' Says Fiber Is the Secret to Weight Loss and The Dangers of Kardashian-Endorsed QuickTrim.]
Birth Weights Drop, Surprising Researchers
Babies are being born a little lighter these days. Not much—an average of 1.8 ounces less in 2005 than in 1990, meaning the average birth weight of a baby born at full term today is just shy of 7½ pounds instead of a smidgen over, according to a study published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
The finding signals a reversal of a trend towards bigger and bigger babies that began after World War II, U.S. News's Deborah Kotz writes. And, quite frankly, the Harvard University researchers who conducted the study were surprised. More pregnant women have factors that should increase their baby's birth weight: being older than 35, gaining more than 45 pounds during pregnancy, having diabetes before or during pregnancy, and avoiding smoking. Yet birth weights are dropping, not rising—particularly among women who have the lowest risk of having low-birth-weight babies to begin with: white, well-educated nonsmokers who received early prenatal care. These women's babies were born weighing an average of 2.8 ounces less in 2005 than in 1990.
Here's one factor that could be playing a role: the shift towards elective inductions of labor and scheduled cesarean sections that is causing an increasing number of babies to be born before their actual due date. Read more.
[Read A Risky Rise in C-Sections and Pregnant Women: Just Say 'No' to Early C-Section.]
Other Popular Articles from USNews.com
- Can't Sleep? Why Insomnia Shouldn't Be Ignored
- 10 Ways to Get Better Sleep (and Maybe Cure Your Insomnia)
- 10 Reasons Not to Skimp on Sleep
- 5 Risks Linked to Diabetes Medications
- 7 Steps Newly Diagnosed Diabetics Should Take
- 6 Ways to Reduce Inflammation Without Taking a Statin
- Need Care? Scan the Rankings: Best Nursing Homes, Best Health Plans, and Best Hospitals
Reader Comments Read all comments (1)