Healthy Memphis

An e-mail arrived recently from a pharmaceutical company offering this truly useful service - an informational Web site ranking public restrooms nationwide.

The makers of Cystex, an over-the-counter urinary pain reliever, have partnered with The Bathroom Diaries in a project that might reduce the number of times you gingerly open the door of a public bathroom and find yourself immediately backing out.

Each entry includes the bathroom's location as well as space for an overall ranking plus space for commentary on the bathroom's style and practical information like cost, handicap accessibility, safety and cleanliness.

The 11 Memphis-area entries include four Old Navy Stores (every retailers dream), a Borders Books, two Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Bookstar (including helpful advice on exactly where to find the bathroom), The Peabody, Wild Oats Natural Marketplace and the Texaco at 3975 Summer. Wild Oats and Texaco get the biggest raves.Here's the address. Check it out and add your own. (Personally, I think fast food restaurants aren't a bad option.)

One delectable super food that is good for our overall health including our hearts is dark chocolate or more specifically cocoa and bittersweet chocolate (which must contain at least 60% cocoa). It is appropriately coined "food for the gods". Studies show that the flavonoids found in dark chocolate can do such remarkable heart healthy tasks as increasing HDL (good cholesterol), lower LDL (bad cholesterol) as well as lower blood pressure and your triglycerides, which in turn lowers your risk for atherosclerosis, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  Below is a recipe for an unbelievably delicious Chocolate Almond Biscotti. I was lucky enough to sample this recipe in Altoka, Tennessee where a book club baked the biscotti for a talk I gave there. See if you can find the 4 super foods in the recipe below. ENJOY!

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

11/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

11/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

6 tablespoons butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped slivered almonds

2 ounces bittersweet (60% cocoa or more) chocolate, chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and cinnamon. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture and beat on low just until combined. Fold in the almonds and chocolate.

3. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet and shape into a loaf about 9" X 5". Bake for 20 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Remove to a rack to cool, about 15 minutes.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. Cut the loaf crosswise into 18 (1/2 inch thick) slices. Place the slices cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake, turning once, for 25 minutes, or until dry and crisp. Remove to rack to cool completely.

Makes 18

Per serving: 145 calories, 65 calories from fat, 7 g total fat, 3 g saturated fat, 2 g monounsaturated fat, 1 g polyunsaturated fat, 34 mg cholesterol, 81 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 10 g sugar, 3 g protein.

SOURCE: “WomenHeart's All Heart Family Cookbook; Featuring the 40 Foods Proven to Promote Heart Health,” by Kathy Kastan and Suzanne Banfield (Rodale, $29.95, 301 pages).

Skin cancer is the most common American cancer diagnosis. But not all skin cancers are equally deadly.  The most common are cancer of the basal and squamous skin cell. More than 1 million cases of the slow-growing, highly-curable cancers will be diagnosed this year. They will result in about 2,700 deaths.

Melanoma, which affects the pigment-producing melanocyte cells, will be diagnosed in far fewer, but kill more than twice as many. This year melanoma will be diagnosed in roughly 62,480 Americans. It will be linked with 8,420 deaths.

 Dr. Brad Somer, an oncologist with West Clinic, said early diagnosis is key to surviving melanoma. "If melanoma spreads it is a very deadly disease," he said.

The American Cancer Society suggests the following strategies for finding melanoma early, when odds of a cure are highest.

1.  Do a monthly skin check. Get to know your moles, freckles, blemishes and other blemishes. Don't forget to check palms, nails, back, scalp and other hard to see areas.

2. Make sure to get any new, changing or suspicious mole examined by your primary care doctor or dermatologist.

 3. Most moles are harmless. The cancer society recommends an ABCD approach to determine when to seek medical advice. ABCD stands for:

Asymmetry: One half of a mole doesn't match the other.

Border irregularity: A mole with ragged, irregular or notched borders.

Color: A mole that isn't a single color.

Diameter: A mole larger than the size of a pencil eraser.

Remember, not all melanomas fit the description.

Skin cancer's been linked to exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. The National Weather Service posts a daily estimate of the UV index at noon in Memphis and dozens of other U.S. cities.  Click here to check today's UV forecast.

The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports just rolled out a new fitness challenge. This one is aimed at adults, not junior high students.

Designed for folks age 18 and older, it is designed to measure flexibility, strength and cardiovascular fitness. Participants can visit the council's Web site, enter their results and see how they compare with other Americans of the same age and gender.

Melissa Johnson, the council's executive director, told the Associated Press that the test was developed in response to Baby Boomers looking for exercise advice and a way to compare their performance to peers. Johnson said developers hope it will also inspire Americans to get moving.

The test involves:

-A one-mile walk or 1.5-mile run,

-Doing push-ups to exhaustion;

-Doing sit-ups for one minutes;

-A stretching exercise called sit and stretch.

More information is available online at the council's Web site.

Sorry, this time there is no patch. But if you take the challenge, let us know how you fare.

A variety of free services, including emergency contraception and family planning, will be offered beginning Monday (May 12) by Planned Parenthood of Greater Memphis.

On Monday, May 12, free family planning services, including birth control and annual exams, will be offered.

On Tuesday, May 13, free emergency contraception will be available.

On Thursday, May 15, free testing for sexually transmitted diseases will be offered.

Those services will all be available 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Planned Parenthood Health Center, at 1407 Union, suite 300.

On Friday, May 16, beginning at 9 p.m. Planned Parenthood staff will be at the bar One More, 2117 Peabody, with birth control information.

Transforming Bodies, a new gym in the Cooper-Young neighborhood, is hosting an open house Saturday, May 10. The event is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 937 N. Cooper.

Roland Genesy is the owner. His credentials include 15 national and state body building championships. He earned his personal trainer certification through the Cooper Institute in Dallas. For more about Genesy or the gym, visit his Web site.

Meanwhile, if you know of other gyms or fitness centers that have opened (or closed) let us know and we'll post the information on The Commercial Appeal's Healthy Memphis blog. Send the information to powers@commercialappeal.com.

Now that age 40 is the new 30, the publishing industry has responded with a glut of books intended to make 50 the new 35.

The new offerings include "Positively Ageless" and "Redesigning 50: The No-Plastic-Surgery Guide to 21st Century Age Defiance."

The first comes from Prevention magazine and is authored by Cheryl Forberg, a registered dietitian and chief. She is also the nutritionist for the NBC reality series The Biggest Loser. The second was written by Oz Garcia, described on the book jacket as "one of the world’s leading authorities in progressive nutrition and anti-aging." Someone's also apparently dubbed him "nutritionist to the stars." As a life-long member of the non-star camp, the book nearly passed unopened from my life.

Halfway through both books, I am still unsure if reading them qualifies as time well spent.

"Positively Ageless" has plenty of good, practical information. It covers everything from the importance of calcium and the evils of smoking to the magic of a balanced diet and why age increases the importance of strength training. It is packed with recipes and meal plans promising to rejuvenate skin, fight free radicals, bolster energy and strengthen my disease fighting immune system.

Reading it late at night, I occasionally find myself shaking my head and thinking either tell me something new or who has time to make their own breakfast sausage.

"Redesigning 50" is written with so many asides and digressions built into each chapter it reads like Cliff Notes, rather than a book. There are lots of personal testimonials from individuals who are identified by name, age, professional and marital status. I found the book's overall design distracting, rather than a reader-friendly way to communicate about a subject - aging and how to slow it - that is complex and fraught with controversies.

For now, I am still working my way through both books and trying not to be too put off by complex dietary regimesm, Botox testimonials and plugs for nutritional supplement.

Are there book I should be reading instead? If you have suggestions, please take a minute to post the title along with the book jacket blurb that reflects your take on the author's message.

Prenatal care for Spanish-speaking residents is the focus of an upcoming event set for 6 p.m. Monday (April 28) at a Hickory Hill neighborhood store. The program is sponsored by the Memphis & Shelby County Health Department to provide Spanish-speaking women with information about prenatal care and services. It is set for El Mercadito, 3766 Ridgeway. The store is across from the Hickory Ridge Mall.

Spanish-speaking health providers and translators will be on hand.

Refreshments will be served. The first 50 children will receive goody bags.

For more information, call 544-7646.

Can you remember the last time you sat down to a meal really hungry?  Or are you eating dinner because it is 6:30 and you always eat dinner at that time? 

The American Dietetic Association offers these insights regarding eating and hunger:  Read the rest of this entry »