The “pumpkin” drink with more sugar than pumpkin is back on the menu at Starbucks. You can do better. This year marks an early return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte,…
Tag: coffee
Since 1980, the U.S. incidence of liver cancer has tripled and the death rate has doubled. “Excess weight, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and diabetes are greatly contributing to higher rates…
Here’s how to find a creamer that won’t turn a 10-calorie cup of black coffee—or even a 30-calorie coffee with half and half—into a milkshake. Don’t pour it on Most…
Soup or salad? Pancakes or omelet? Here’s what to consider when you eat out. Our examples are from chain restaurants, but the winners and losers should hold up elsewhere. Which…
What you put in or on your burrito, sub, smoothie, latte, pizza, bagel, or plate of fast-Chinese food matters. Here are a few examples of how to slash the calories…
Get Life-Saving Information on Diet and Nutrition Right Now! Dear Friend, You’ve always wanted life-saving information about the foods you eat. You should know, for example, that Marie Callender’s Chicken…
Non-dairy “milk” creamers have been around for years. Until recently, they came down to a choice between soy and soy. But today, where there’s soy, can almond be far behind?…
Soft drinks, coffee, and tea aren’t the only sources of caffeine. The attention-boosting chemical is also found in chocolate drinks and candy, too. But the amounts can be pretty small.…
More than 80 percent of American adults consume caffeine regularly. That’s no surprise, what with a coffee shop seemingly on every corner and in every supermarket, and tiny $3 bottles of 5-hour Energy popping up like mushrooms wherever there’s a checkout counter. It turns out, though, that there is also caffeine in ice cream and frozen yogurt.
How does caffeine work in the body?
Caffeine works mainly by temporarily binding to adenosine receptors in the brain. That prevents adenosine, which is a natural sedative produced by the brain, from occupying those receptors and making us feel drowsy. Adenosine levels build up during waking hours and then drop as we sleep.
People who don’t use caffeine regularly and who haven’t developed a dependence on it “usually become significantly more alert and better able to perform cognitive and motor tasks – such as paying attention during boring tasks or typing – if they’re given the right dose of caffeine,” says Laura Juliano, a professor of psychology at American University in Washington, D.C.
According to the International Continence Society (ICS), incontinence is the “involuntary loss of urine that is a social or hygienic problem and is objectively demonstrable.” Urinary incontinence is most commonly a result of bladder dysfunction, sphincter dysfunction, or a combination of both. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of middle-aged women and 50 percent of older women experience urinary leakage.
The problem is less common in men, but does increase with age. Even so, older men experience severe urinary incontinence at only about half the rate of women. Despite the prevalence of this health problem, it is still a “don’t ask, don’t tell” issue.
“In our study of nurses, less than 50 percent of the women who had incontinence reported it to their doctors,” says Mary Townsend, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
It is a sensitive issue, for sure, but what is the cause of urinary incontinence? Leaks are more common in women who are older, heavier, or smokers, and in those who have had more children, diabetes, or a hysterectomy.