:: JFP Wellness Blog

Preventing Identity Theft

[verbatim from AG's office] Attorney General Jim Hood, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann and Better Business Bureau President Bill Moak are joining together with a host of private partners to help Mississippians tak a pro-active approach in the fight against identity theft.

"Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in Mississippi and in America," said Attorney General Jim Hood. "We must be pro-active in the fight against it, if we are going to stop it. One of the simplest things you can do to reduce your chance of becoming a victim of identity theft is to shred documents that contain personal information before you throw them away." [end verbatim quotes]

Locally, you can participate in the second annual Community Shred Day today and tomorrow, Feb. 8 and 9. Bring up to five large garbage bags of your sensitive documents to be shredded for free to the Home Depot at 6325 I-55 N.

Rid Your Body of Toxins

Between eating and drinking out of plastics that leach, getting a bit of pesticides with our veggies and a few stray hormones in our burgers, we're all exposed to levels of toxins every day--they're unavoidable. And, depending on how our bodies react to them, toxins can drain our energy, make concentrating difficult and even make us feel chronically ill.

Unless you've been living in a cave for the last few years, chances are you've seen something about the benefits of detoxifying, which is all about flushing toxins from your body. It might sound awful, but the benefits can be enormous.

If you're interested in finding out more, Dr. Joseph White is holding a free informative seminar tonight at 6 p.m.

“Detoxification for Optimum Health in a Toxic World" s designed to increase awareness about the dangers of toxins and provide information about what you can do to combat the problem. The seminar will be held at the Optimum Health Wellness Center at 6501 Dogwood View Parkway in Jackson. Free. For information and to reserve your seat, call 601-366-7447.

A Smoke-Free Lunch?

Last Thursday, I joined the JFP Lounge at Hal & Mal's in the smoke-free Oyster Room. Now, don't get me wrong; I love Hal & Mal's, and I love the comraderie of the JFP lounge. What I hate is the fact that every time I go to Hal & Mal's, whether for the red beans or an after-work cocktail, I have to deal with cigarette smoke. Occasionally, it gets to be too much temptation and I bum a smoke from another patron (I used to have a three-pack-a-day habit, so it's always an issue). Last Thursday, though, I left with a sore throat just from the second-hand smoke that didn't notice the no smoking sign where I happened to be sitting.

I'm really not picking on Hal & Mal's specifically. Fact is, there are few places in Jackson where I don't have the same problem. How great would it be to not have to risk my health to eat the best red beans in town or to have a drink with friends? I have to think that some of the folks working in Jackson restaurants would love it, too.

If you're of similar mind, you have an opportunity to make your voice heard.

In the tradition of 60s sit-ins, Smoke-free Jackson is holding a city-wide rally tomorrow, Nov. 15, to take the message to local restaurants. "Dine In for a Smoke-free Jackson," will begin at 10:30 in the Fellowship Hall at St. Luke's Methodist (621 Duling Ave.), and from there, participants will spread out to have lunch at local restaurants, armed with information packets for restaurant owners and managers.

Ultimately, the goal of Smoke-free Jackson is a comprehensive ordinance banning smoking in all Jackson workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Neighboring Ridgeland has already put the ban into place, and Jackson City Councilman Leslie McLemore is backing an ordinance for the city in council.

For more info, contact Kelly Lindsay at 601-321-5516. Not coincidentally, tomorrow is also the 31st Great American Smoke Out, sponsored by the American Cancer Society.

It's Best Of Time Again!

Alrighty all you proud Jacksonians. It's time once more to vote for the Best of Jackson. The first 2008 ballot is scheduled to appear in next week's issue (Oct. 31) of the Jackson Free Press, which means this is your last chance to add your favorite category-we-forgot to the list.

Right now, go to Jackpedia's New Best Of Jackson Categories and add your two cents. Do it now. Before Friday. Or it won't get in. Now.

Shame on Us

I literally shouted expletives at my TV yesterday morning as I drank my coffee and watched the morning news. In an appalling display of hypocrisy, first lady Laura Bush landed in Abu Dhabi to promote breast cancer awareness in the Middle East.

Why hypocrisy? Because domestically, the United States fails miserably to meet its own health care targets, especially when it comes to women’s and children’s health issues.

In the 2007 edition of “Making the Grade on Women’s Health: a National and State-by-State Report Card,” the National Women’s Law Center documents progress—or, more accurately, lack of progress—on the Healthy People 2010 initiatives for women’s health set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2000. Looking at 27 benchmarks—from life expectancy to poverty to reproductive health—the report repeats its 2004 “unsatisfactory” grade for the U.S. as a whole. Once again, not one state achieved “satisfactory” status, though three states (Vermont, Minnesota and Massachusetts) received “satisfactory minus” scores, down from eight states that managed the dubious score in 2004. In this year’s report, Mississippi ranks dead last—No. 51—as it did in the previous report.

Nationwide, it’s a case of one step forward and three steps back. “The three goals met by the nation, the percentage of women age 40 and older across the country getting mammograms regularly, the number of annual dental visits, and the additional achievement of the percentage of women age 50 and older who receive screenings for colorectal cancer, represent important milestones for women,” the authors write in the report’s key findings. “However, the nation now fails to meet 12 of the 27 indicator benchmarks, up from nine in 2004.”

The one benchmark all states managed to meet in 2007, as in 2004, was regular dental visits. No state hit the benchmarks for health insurance, pap smears, obesity, eating five fruits and vegetables a day, high blood pressure, diabetes, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, poverty or the wage gap. Benchmark failures added to the 2004 list for all states this year were pap smears and obesity.

Save the Children, meanwhile, released its 2007 “State of the World’s Mothers” report, focusing this year on infant mortality, or saving the lives of children under 5. It should come as no surprise that the report lists developing nations—mostly without access to even basic health-care services—as the countries with the highest infant mortality rates. What should surprise us is where the U.S. stands on the list: No. 26, tied with Croatia, Estonia and Poland. 14 industrialized nations rank lower than the U.S., all in Eastern Europe and most part of the former Soviet Union. Scanning the list, it looks like all industrialized nations ranking higher than the U.S. offer “socialized” or universal health care.

In the U.S., only Wyoming exceeds Mississippi with the number of babies dying before their 5th birthday.

It shames me to see how cavalierly we preach the gospel of health care to the world when we can’t manage to lift up our own populace. It should shame us all.

Learn Something New

Every so often, I come across something really useful on the Internet that isn’t trying to sell me anything. If you’re like me, it’s even better if it tells me where to get cool, free stuff. Here’s a page that fits both of those criteria: The Massive Free Education List from Jimmy Ruska. The list includes 177 free Berkeley Video Courses— on everything from Psych 101 to Operating Systems—plus resources for free language learning sites to free software. Check it out.

While you’re out there, also take a look at one of my favorite sites: Dumb Little Man. The site provides tips to “save you money, increase your productivity, or simply keep you sane.” Today’s posts include “7 Tips to Overcome Your Fear of Failure” and “25 Ways to Find a Date Offline” (Do I sense a theme?)

Empowerment Mississippi

This Saturday, Empowerment Mississippi, along with a handful of community sponsors, will explore economic issues for Mississippi's African American community, to "embrace strategies, goals and objectives" for solving problems and improving conditions.

Plan to attend the free 2007 Economic Conference tomorrow at JSU's Rose E. McCoy Auditorium, along with "key leaders from business, the public sector, as well as elected officials." Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.

For more information, go to the Empowerment Mississippi website or send an e-mail to info@empowermentmississippi.com

Serving the Blues

What is the problem with food manufacturers? This morning I checked out the daily email from one of my favorite green Web sites and the subject was energy drinks. “Oh, goody,” I thought. Yesterday was a 13-hour day, and I can use some energy this morning.

I clicked on one of the links for a drink called Steaz Energy. The link took me to a “landing” page that told me I needed Flash to view the site. That’s bad enough. I mean, why do Internet marketing people insist on using technology that their potential customers might not have and might not want? Do they really want to exclude customers? But don’t get me started on that one.

Here’s what got me writing: I poked around on the site (after muting the music I didn’t want to hear) to get to the nutritional information. And what did I find?

A typical up-to-government-standards nutritional label.

These things really chap my ass, and for one fundamental reason: the serving size. Steaz comes in a 12-ounce can. But what is the serving size on the label? Eight ounces. Come on people—I mean really. Who the heck is going to not drink the last third. Can we get real? A serving of this stuff is 12 ounces. Is there any doubt in anyone’s mind about that?

This is the kind of crap that leads to consumer confusion. Even consumers who are trying to do better by reading labels can be deceived into thinking that they’re consuming 90 calories in a “serving,” when they’re really consuming 120. And this isn’t limited to the less-than-bright among us. Donna expounded on the virtues of a smoothie from Rainbow a few weeks back. When I asked her how many calories it contained, she looked at the label and responded with something like “200.” But that was a six-ounce “serving” of a 12-ounce drink.

Who makes up this sh*t?!?

Monday night, I went to the grocery store. In a haze of wishful thinking, I stopped by the snack aisle to see if anyone had introduced the 100-calorie version of the 12-ounce bag of salt-and-vinegar potato chips since the last time I’d been there. As usual, I was sorely disappointed. What, according to the government guidelines, is a serving of potato chips? One, yes, that’s ONE, ounce. Right! I looked at about five different brands, and occasionally, they printed the number of chips that constituted an ounce—usually three to nine. No self-respecting chip connoisseur would get off that light. Why, I can snarf up three times that many waiting for my fajitas at the local Miss/Mex place. I passed, again.

OK, maybe I’m just grouchy.

Here’s the point: Serving sizes make a difference. If you’re watching your calories, you must learn to understand those inane labels. A serving is not what you and I fantasize it should be. Sad, but true.

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

“Anxiety Disorders can be Debilitating.” The headline, from The Clarion-Ledger a few weeks ago, speaks volumes about the way we live our lives. Fear stops us in our tracks, making us into the proverbial deer in the headlights. Fear, whether in politics, medicine, marketing or media, can be crazy making. Pick up a paper, turn on a TV, go to the Internet; wherever you turn, someone is trying to scare you. Why? Because it works.

Afraid of food? Of course you are. Spinach was contaminated and people died. Trans-fats, found in every cookie and French fry, are so dangerous that state after state is outlawing them.

Afraid for your health? Of course you are. But if you’re unhappy, there’s a pill; if you have an allergy, here’s a spray; if you can’t get a boner, take your choice of little blue pills.

Afraid of terrorists? Of course you are. That’s why we’re fighting them “over there,” so they don’t come back “over here.” And, by the way, have you noticed that it’s “terror” itself that we’re waging war against, not just terrorists. And how can you be against fighting “terror” with everything we’ve got?

Afraid of sex? Of course you are, what with AIDS, STDs and the highest teenage pregnancy rate in the U.S. Just say no. Right. How’s it working? It’s not.

When did all of this get so out of hand? FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) was a term coined in the ’70s to describe IBM’s fear-based marketing, which engendered fear of the competition’s product instead of confidence in IBM’s. It worked for IBM, and copywriting courses routinely teach that if you can’t inspire fear, greed or lust, you won’t inspire sales or votes. Fear is a strong motivator, and has been since we were running from saber-toothed cats on the savannah. And whether it’s in the hands of the unscrupulous or simply the overeager, we allow fear mongers to manipulate us. We’re too eager to believe statistics without considering their source or context. Overexposure magnifies every threat to frightening proportions. It’s how politicians get elected, how big pharma sells us potions for every twitch, how religion sells heaven, hell and abstinence, how activists whip us into an angry frenzy and how marketers get us to buy things we don’t need: With fear.

In an age when big business brings you most of your news along with most of the advertising, we all have to learn to better sort a little truth from a lot of sensationalism. Next time you’re angry or fearful, take a breath. Consider the facts. Is there really something to fear or has someone just punched the right buttons on your personal fear meter? Are you thinking or reacting? If you’re afraid, chances are you’re not seeing things clearly. And that’s when you’re vulnerable to being controlled. See it for what it is and you take back your power.

Or be afraid; be very afraid.

Putting Babies in Danger

Recent news from the citizen-based environmental advocacy group Environmental California states that your baby's plastic baby-bottle may be leaching toxins. From their report's executive summary:

Products marketed for infants and children are not always completely safe for their use. Many contain toxic chemicals that may have detrimental health impacts for children exposed during critical stages of development. In this report, we analyze the extent to which five popular brands of baby bottles leach bisphenol A, a developmental, neural, and reproductive toxicant, into liquids coming into contact with them. We found that all five brands leach bisphenol A at dangerous levels found to cause harm in numerous laboratory animal studies.

Their report, "Toxic Baby Bottles," outlines the types of problems the toxin can cause, the brands tested and goes on to make recommendations that parents use glass bottles or safer non-polycarbonate plastic bottles.