Welcome to the latest Healthbolt Carnival. This edition features a collection of posts sent in over the past month (some, it seems, have gotten lost, so if you post isn’t here, apologies).

Grab a coffee, pull up a chair, and start clicking on an eclectic selection of health and wellness posts…

Katherine McMahon from Gluten Free Alaskan Goddess discovers that Italy is full of Celiacs in Living Gluten Free in the land of Pasta and Pizza.

Alvaro Fernandez from SharpBrains writes about Cognitive screenings and Alzheimer’s Disease, saying, “The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America just released a thoughtful report advocating for widespread cognitive screenings after the age of 65 (55 given the right conditions).”

Dr Martin W. Russell reviews The LAP-BAND Solution: A Partnership in Weight Loss, a book by Australian surgeon Dr Paul O’Brien.

Jeff C. from Gobs Channel suggests Fruit before, Not after, saying that it will make quite a difference to your diet.

Kara-Leah from Prana Flow NZ gives us a A short home yoga practice for managing back pain, saying, “A healthy spine is probably one of the most wonderful things one can experience - I know the more I practice yoga, the more my spine opens up, the more liberated I feel from within my body. To create this practice, I have drawn on my many years of chronic back issues, and my many years of home yoga practice.”

Alvin Hopkinson from Relief From Gout gives information on Relief From Gout - How to Gain Comfort, saying, “Depending on the severity of the gout there are different methods used for treating it. Relief from gout comes from a combination of lifestyle changes, dietary modifications and exercising.”

ChristianPF from A Natural Organic looks at The Dangers of genetically modified foods (VIDEO), saying, “a great video exposing a bit of what is really going on with some of our foods”

Aparna from Beauty and Personality Grooming looks at the Medicinal value of honey.

Matthew from Fast Medical Information provides information on Treating Allergies At Home, saying, “If you have any allergies then the best treatment is always avoidance rather than treating the symptoms once they appear. This means avoiding the allergens that trigger the symptoms in the first place.”

MCA from Caffeine Addiction addresses how caffeine raises you blood sugar levels in Does Caffeine Raise Your Blood Glucose Levels?.

The Beauty Aid looks at Oprah’s Acai Berry Diet: Is it for you?.

Peter Garant from Humidifier Reviews writes about Better Air Through Cool Mist Humidifiers, saying, “Your doctor or physician may have just told you that you need a cool mist humidifier �C but you have no idea what that is exactly.”

swapnil warang from switch2life discusses How to know if you are underweight.

Clara Myers from Mind Mart asks do you know What’s In Your Carpet?, saying, “Most carpet ends up in the landfill leaching chemicals into the ground. What’s the alternative?”

Joel Gray from Health Tips 101 writes about All About Persimmon Tea And Why It Is Good For You.

dentalheroes from Dental Plan & Dental Insurance News provides 8 Questions to Ask Any Discount Dental Plan or Dental Insurance Provider.

candy from Carrie and Danielle discusses Biodynamic Wines and Holiday Meals: Balance for Your Palate and Planet.

Just_Kelly from Choosing Losing! reviews Skin MD Natural + SPF15 Shielding Lotion.

JRickG from JE Gonzalez presents Personal Deconstruction.

Bill Urell from Addiction Recovery Basics addresses the issue of Anorexia, The Starvation Diet, And Drinking, saying, “Using a starvation diet to justify drinking without weight gain is a desructive strategy that is gaining popularity.”

And that’s the end of this edition of Healthbolt Carnival. 

Don’t forget to submit your health, fitness, and wellness blog article to the next edition of Healthbolt Carnival using our carnival submission form.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: a healthbolt carnival, blog carnival.

Ever live in a place where you know the water is not safe to drink? Where you even use bottled water to clean your teeth? I have and I’ve got to say it’s not fun. I lived in Saudi Arabia for a year and was reliant on bottled water for drinking, cooking, and yes, cleaning my teeth.

But while I found it annoying, at least I did have access to clean water which is more that millions of people around the world have.

The World Health Organizations (WHO) says…

“…1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. Unsafe water and inadequate sanitation kills nearly TWO MILLION people each year, mostly children under the age of five.”

That’s way too many people without clean drinking water.

Want to help out? Take the Clean Water Challenge Quiz…

For each correct answer, the American Chemistry Council, with support from the World Chlorine Council and individual companies, will contribute $0.20, up to a total of $200,000. Twenty cents is the cost of five chlorine tablets designed to disinfect 100 liters of water. With your help, we can contribute enough to disinfect 100 million liters of household drinking water.

These contributions will support efforts by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other partners to implement household water programs in Ghana, Niger and Mali as part of the West Africa Water Initiative. Using chlorine-based disinfection and safe water storage techniques, these programs will reach an estimated 3 million people, helping to reduce disease and improve quality of life.

After all, every drop counts.

Did you know that this year marks the 100th year of America’s reliance on chlorine to disinfect drinking water?

Jersey City, NJ was the first US city to routinely chlorinate it’s municipal drinking water, followed by Chicago’s union stockyards and many, many more cities around the country. Today, pretty much all U.S. public water systems rely on chlorine in some form for safe drinking water

As a result, waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid are virtually eliminated.

But as this guest post by the Chairman of Water Quality & Health Council highlights, there are always cracks in the system…

The Waterborne Outbreak in Alamosa, Colorado
by Chris Wiant, M.P.H, Ph.D.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the first use of chlorination to help ensure safe drinking water supplies.  The most important stories related to this milestone are those that did not have to be written – the outbreaks of waterborne disease that did not occur and the health and economic costs that have been avoided.  Instead we are able to talk about increased life expectancy and improved quality of life achieved by providing clean drinking water.  However, the people of Alamosa, Colorado, were recently reminded that without disinfection, public drinking water supplies are still vulnerable to contamination, just as they were 100 years ago and continued vigilance is necessary to ensure protection. 

In early March 2008, the first cases of a Salmonella outbreak  were reported in Alamosa, a town of 10,000.  Through epidemiologic investigation, the water supply was soon suspected and later confirmed as the source of the outbreak. This was stunning news to many who believed that Alamosa’s water was safe from contamination.

The water supply for Alamosa is drawn from a deep well and maintained in a closed system.  This enabled Alamosa to receive a waiver from rules that would otherwise require disinfection of its drinking water supply.  So, although it was not treated with chlorine or other disinfectant, the water supply was in compliance with applicable drinking water regulations at the time of the outbreak.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) concluded that contamination likely took place in an underground storage facility that had cracks and was visibly leaking.  Despite the high quality of water coming from the ground, the storage/distribution system presented a risk that could have been eliminated through the use of disinfection, highlighting the need for multiple protective barriers to address potential contamination.  The storage facility was repaired and the entire distribution system was subsequently flushed with superchlorinated water.  The water supply is now chlorinated and monitoring was increased to ensure clean water is provided to customers.

The outbreak resulted in over 400 reported cases of illness.  It is speculated that many more people were ill but didn’t seek treatment or were unable to get treatment as the medical care system became overwhelmed.  The economic cost of the outbreak, including the associated response costs and loss of tourism, has not been calculated.

Although CDPHE and other responders were praised for their prompt ction, which most likely limited the extent of the outbreak, it is now clear that the vulnerable water system could have been protected through the use of a proven and cost effective disinfection method.  100 years after chlorine was first used to help provide safe drinking water, the Alamosa outbreak serves as an important reminder of the value of disinfection in protecting public health. 

(Chris Wiant is President and CEO of Caring for Colorado Foundation in Denver Colorado and chairman of the Water Quality & Health Council.)

Have a look at this thought provoking slideshow that explores ‘humanity’s water use and the emerging worldwide water shortage.’

(source)

Still trying to decide who to vote for come November 4th ?

Maybe this will help you make up your mind.

It’s a quiz that sheds some light on not only the current candidates favorite drinks but also the drinks of past presidents and little about the history of wine in the White House…

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recover Month and in recognition of this, the bloggers at b5Media’s Health and Wellness Channel have put together their interpretation of the 12 Steps, looking at each step not just from it’s orginal intent but also in relation to their own blog topic. The result is an interesting and informative group of posting that provides ‘food for thought’ in own lives.

We’ve all heard of the 12 Step Program, but most of us won’t be able to recite what each step was. That’s because we are lucky enough not to need to. But for thousands of people around the world, the 12 steps is their world.

Mark over at A Dozen Steps lists the 12 Steps  that he believes are designed to bring the person who practices them to a spiritual awakening and a psychic change sufficient enough to bring about a radical change in thinking.

Angelique from Breaking the Mirror starts off with Step 1 and finds that this step could just as easily apply to many addictions and disorders.

Alicia from Mental Health Notes addresses Step 2, asking Can A Power Greater Than Yourself Restore You To Sanity’?

Karen from Pink Ribbon Review looks at Step 3 as it relates to her and her life as a breast cancer survivor.

Kelly from Grounded Fitness tackles Step 4, saying she believes everyone can benefit from doing a little honest soul searching.

Kendra from A Hearty Life dicusses Step 5, saying we need to stop hiding behind our own excuses, problems and shortcomings and take responsibility for our own actions.

Grace from Kids Health Notes contemplates Step 6, saying that while “defect of character” seems little to do with nurturing healthy children, in reality our weaknesses have a lot to do with keeping our children healthy and productive.

At Diabetes Notes, Kendra moves on to Step 7, saying humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.

Breaking the Mirror, looks at Step 8, saying if she was to make a list, she would probably start with herself, to be perfectly honest. Then, she’d move on to her immediate family, and from there, branch out to friends.

Alicia from Mental Health Notes further explores the twelve steps, this time looking at Step 9, asking ‘Should You Make Amends With Those You’ve Wronged?

Kristina from AutismVox focuses on Step 10, find that the call to self-scrutiny and to reexamination of oneself has always been important to her as an aid in figuring out how to help her son Charlie who is autistic.

Grace from Kids Health Notes looks into Step 11, saying she believes words can either bring life or death, curse or blessing, and that when we speak, or pray, specific words then something tangible takes place: Hope.

And for Step 12, the final step, Breaking the Mirror addresses ways that anyone can carry the message about their addiction or illness.

Ah, national conventions. Those magical times where smarmy politicians down their vodka and tonics and fantasize about what Sarah Palin looks like spread out on one of her bear-skin rugs.

C’mon, people, you know there is some serious partying going on at these things.

But who’s having the most fun? At one time, conventional wisdom might have pointed to the Dems. Not so much due to their star-power and celeb-heavy support system (though that surely helps), but because their convention was held in the high altitude haven of Denver, Colorado. Every fool knows that drinking in the thin air will lead to moments of tipsy table dancing faster than at sea level, right? In fact, it has been reported that the DNC attendees were even handed out warnings saying as much.

Not so, says researchers. Instead, in studies, there was little to no difference seen at all between the behaviors of mountain top drinkers and those more rooted. True, higher altitudes can play with your mind slightly in general, but drinking is drinking wherever ye’s glass shall be tipped.

As for who’s having the most fun…well now that Gustav has blown away and Sarah Palin takes the podium tonight, we’ll just have to wait and see…

Cheers!

After the weekend I just had (see the post below for a sampling of my horrific menu!) I figured it was time to get back to good, you know? But, of course, this being the first day of Back-to-School (can I get a hallelujah?!?), there is now little to no time to cook as ideally as I’d like.

So what shall we turn to? Packaged foods, of course.

Sure, it can be tempting to grab whatever’s on sale, but with a little bit of pre-thought and preparation, you can choose some really great convenience items to enhance your home-cooked meals or to build them around.

Thankfully, Women’s Health has put together an awesome list of the 125 Top Packaged Foods just for us. You’ll find winners in categories including:

• Drinks
• Bread
• Pasta
• Fruits & Vegetables
• Frozen Meals
• Soup
• Snacks
• Meats
• Sweets
• Dairy
• Condiments & Sauces

See the whole list for the best of the best to get you and yours off to the healthiest start possible this school year. (Don’t you just love when someone does all the work for you?!)

Happy Sexbolt Saturday, everyone!

I have a feeling that for some of you, hitting the bars and lounges is on your To-Do list for this evening, am I right? And for some of you, hooking up might also be on that very same list.

Well, let me say that it’s only because I care about you and your reputation that I’m informing you it has now been proven as a scientific fact that the oft-feared “beer goggles” are really for real. Really.

The scoop? When people have been drinking, others appear more attractive to them. And not just members of the opposite sex. Nope, when heterosexual subjects who had been drinking were shown photos of same-sex folks, they also rated those people as being more attractive. I guess now we know why Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” became an instant bar fave, eh?

While this info is not really all that surprising (considering t-shirts that beckon you to ‘Keep Drinking Until I’m Hot’ have made the rounds for years), it’s still pretty cool that the medical community recognizes this phenomenon and now we feel a little more vindicated for having succumbed to the force of the all-mighty beer goggle once or twice.

So have fun this weekend, my sexy friends. Just be sure you and your designated driver (and hottie-checker) work out some sort of signal if your find your eyes becoming a little fuzzy before a hook-up.

Cheers!

Hey, Austin, Texas! You guys are topping yet another list. In addition to having some of the ickiest restaurants in the nation, you are also some of the hardest partiers (maybe that’s why you don’t notice if a restaurant is filthy, eh? Um, sorry, bad joke.)

Anyway, Texans may be the toppers, but Midwesterners aren’t far behind. In fact, Midwest towns capture close to half of the top 15 slots. Who else made the list? Check them out here, adapted from a Forbes.com slideshow (complete with awesome photos):

1. Austin, TX

2. Milwaukee, WI

3. San Francisco, CA

4. Providence, RI

5. Chicago, IL

8. Seattle, WA (tie)

8. Cleveland, OH (tie)

8. St. Louis, MO (tie)

9. Boston, MA

10. Cincinnati, OH

11. Pittsburgh, PA

12. Virginia Beach, VA

13. Portland, OR

14. Jacksonville, FL

15. Detroit, MI

Is your city on the list?

For an extremely detailed explanation of how Forbes arrived at these findings, check out the full article.

Bottom’s up!