Andrew Zimmern on What’s Wrong and Right with American Food

Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- He’s known for biting into a frog’s beating heart and chomping on water crickets, but for Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern, what’s really disgusting is the buttered, battered blasphemy peddled by Paula Deen, Sandra Lee and their peers.

“With people like Paula, with people like Sandra Lee, and other people who represent those types of foods and eating and lifestyle, I think it’s not bad that they’re saying, ‘Hey you should try this,’ it’s that they’re not saying ‘Don’t eat it all the time,’” Zimmern told ABC News on Sunday at the New York Food & Wine Festival’s Carts in the Parc event to benefit the Food Bank of New York City. In short: If Paula Deen’s going to teach you how to make fried butter balls, she should also teach you to indulge in them maybe a couple times in your life.

“It’s the same problem I have with the fast food industry," Zimmern said. “There’s nothing wrong with getting a hamburger sometimes. There’s nothing wrong with getting chicken fingers. What’s wrong is commoditizing food to the point where it’s poisonous, cheapening it to the point that anyone can afford it and selling it as something that you should eat all the time. I think that’s very dangerous.”

“Those of us that have a very large platform have a responsibility to tell other people what they’re thinking and feeling,” he continued. “People want to know where I travel, they want to know what I believe in, they want to know how I live my life. This is how I live my life,” he said, holding up a palm-sized Italian pork slider, “Right size portions, despite my un-right sized appetites of all types.”

Zimmern’s appetite took him and his Travel Channel show through the U.S. for the seventh season of Bizarre Foods, which premieres in January.

But his biggest takeaway from filming: Americans need to slow down.

“For peace of mind and for comfort, it’s important to get back to that time when we were up with the sun, down with the sun,” he said. “Eating with the seasons. Spending more time with community and family. I think we’ve lost that.”

Meanwhile, one of the fellow celebrity cooks Zimmern called out is moving in the other direction.

“Our jobs are to service the over-extended homemaker, this is what the show Semi-Homemade is all about,” Food Network host Sandra Lee said in a statement to ABC News. "It offers solutions -- it does not micro-manage the viewers ‘common sense’ (we assume they have it when it comes to their diets).” Deen did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Can Diets Disrupt Cancer Cells?

Duncan Smith/Thinkstock(BOSTON) -- In the medical world, there have been many claims for anti-cancer foods. Now researchers are studying not what those foods might do to cancer cells, but the effect they might have on the environment around the cancer.
 
Experts are saying that an understanding of the tumor environment could aid doctors in developing new prevention methods and treatment for cancer, according to a USA Today report.

For example, researchers are investigating the benefits of "anti-cancer" diets that may help regulate both inflammation and new blood vessel growth. "Anti-inflammatory" diets include those common in Asia and Mediterranean countries -- fatty fish, soy, green leafy vegetables, whole grains, and even green tea.  

Doctor William Li of the Angiogenesis Foundation in Boston says, "There are things we can do as individuals that don't involve doctors and that may influence the microenvironment."  

For example, researchers have studied non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, such as aspirin, as a way to reduce the risk of colon and breast cancer. At UCLA, doctors are studying the effect of drugs called "beta-blockers" on breast cancer patients. The drugs cause a "fight-or-flight" response in the nervous system.  Early studies of patients who took the drugs before and after breast cancer diagnosis showed a lower risk of relapse and death. These findings were first reported in USA Today.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Foster, Colts Teammates Could Struggle Mentally After Gruesome Injury

Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images(TAMPA, Fla.) -- The Indianapolis Colts have a losing season on their hands, but that's not all that could be on their minds. The team's players have suffered multiple injuries in the season so far, including defensive tackle Eric Foster's gruesome ankle injury in Monday night's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sports psychologists say those injuries could take a toll on players' psyches, even on the ones who weren't injured.

Foster dislocated his ankle in the second quarter of the game when his leg got pinned and tangled under defensive end Tyler Brayton. He was taken out of the game.

Foster became emotional as doctors immobilized his leg on the field and loaded him onto a stretcher, and as he rode off the field, he pumped his fist in the air, rallying players from both teams and a stadium full of fans.

The severity of Foster's injury was obvious, both in video replays and based on the emotional reactions of his teammates. But sports psychologists say the mental challenges Foster may face because of his injury could make his road to recovery even rockier.

Dr. William Parham, a sports psychologist in Irvine, Calif., said a player's identity as an athlete makes injury hard to handle emotionally.

"Participation in athletics, especially at the professional level, is not just participation in a game. It's a part of who that player is. It becomes who they are and how they identify themselves," Parham said. "When somebody snatches from them the opportunity for them to express themselves through athletics, that can be devastating."

Psychologists say major injuries can bring up lots of questions for players about when and if they will recover and get back to playing. Those questions can lead to anxiety, depression, anger, fear and even guilt about letting down teammates and fans. And Parham said injured professional athletes such as Foster have an added burden -- worrying about how an injury will affect their job security.

Even after an athletes recover physically, they can still face lingering fears about their ability to perform. Daniel Gould, a professor of sports psychology at Michigan State University, said a full physical recovery may not be enough to prevent a crisis of confidence for some players.

"You've done all you could to recover, but until somebody takes a really hard shot at your knee or your ankle, and you can get up, you're not confident," he said.

Gould said athletic trainers treating Foster would probably watch for signs that he is becoming increasingly anxious or obsessed with his injury throughout his recovery.

Foster may not be the only Colt struggling with thoughts about his devastating injury. Offensive linemen Anthony Castonzo and Ben Iljanana both left the game with knee injuries in Monday's game, adding to a long list of Colts who are disabled, including quarterback Peyton Manning, who is out after having surgery on his neck. Parham said the team's healthy players undoubtedly feel the effects of their teammates' absences.

"When you're a band of brothers on a team, when one hurts, they all hurt," Parham said. "They'll definitely feel that missing link."

The impact of Foster's injury was apparent in his teammates' reactions Monday night. Several Colts players appeared to be fighting back tears, and a few circled around the doctors who were tending to Foster, offering him some encouragement.

Shilagh Mirgain, a sports psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said players who see a gruesome injury like Foster's may worry about their own vulnerabilities, even though they were not the ones suffering injury. But she said that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

"If the team has an opportunity to talk about and process what happened during that game, their reactions, and some of their own fears and concerns about injury, that can also allow the team to unify," Mirgain said.

In the season ahead, Mirgain said the Colts could even turn their negative fears into a positive performance.

"It's an opportunity for the Colts to commit to taking care of themselves, physically and mentally," she said. "They can still have a very successful season going forward."

Foster underwent surgery on his ankle Monday night in a Tampa hospital, and speculations are flying that the injury will end his season. But sports psychologists say a few things could make his recovery easier. Setting small, daily goals for recovery might help him feel accomplished, and leaning on friends, family and teammates for support can be essential.

The Colts' support for Foster was evident Monday night, as his teammates rallied at his side and fans roared when he was carried off the field. Mirgain said Foster's fist-pumping acknowledgement of this support is a good sign for his recovery.

On Tuesday, Foster sent a grateful tweet to his fans.

"Thank u all 4 such kind words. I thank u Lord in Advance. Women around the world gettn treated 4 cancer. May God have mercy on all o us."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Male Circumcision Is Medically Beneficial, Experts Say

David De Lossy/Digital Vision(NEW YORK) -- Male circumcision continues to be debated in America.

This spring ABC News tracked the war waged on the procedure in San Francisco as anti-circumcision “inactivitsts” attempted to ban infant circumcision altogether. This summer Colorado became the 19th state to defund Medicaid coverage for infant circumcision, following in the footsteps of South Carolina, which made the cut in February.

With more states considering defunding as a way to cut health care costs, two Johns Hopkins epidemiologists decided it was time to speak up for circumcision. In an editorial published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Aaron Tobian and Dr. Ronald Gray argue for the medical benefits of circumcising boys in infanthood, citing several observational studies and recent clinical trials that show it reduces the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV, HPV and herpes by about a third in both men and their female sexual partners.

“This is a simple surgery that’s been performed for over 6,000 years.  Clearly it’s safe to perform, and it has clear medical benefits,” says Tobian.

Just 20 years ago as many as 67 percent of all male infants born in U.S. hospitals were circumcised. Today, that number hovers around 32 percent, in part due to decreased funding for the poor and a rise in controversy over the ethics of the practice. Opponents claim circumcision is a form of genital mutilation without medical benefit.

“The foreskin is there for a reason,” Lloyd Schofield, who spearheaded the San Francisco anti-circumcision bill, told ABC News in May.  Shofield called circumcision an “unnecessary surgery” with no “sound medical evidence” behind it.

Recent studies suggests otherwise, Gray and Tobian argue.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

CDC: 112 Million Incidents of Drunk Driving in 2010

Jupiterimages/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Drunk drivers got behind the wheel about 112 million times last year, amounting to nearly 300,000 incidents each day, according to a study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After analyzing data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey, the CDC also found that 81 percent of people who drove while under the influence were men.  More specifically, men between the ages of 21 and 34 were responsible for 32 percent of the reported incidents in 2010.

"The four million adults who drink and drive each year put everyone on the road at risk," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.  "In fact, nearly 11,000 people are killed every year in crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver."

To help prevent drinking and driving, the CDC recommends installing more sobriety checkpoints on the road and maintaining the minimum legal drinking age at 21.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Afraid of Fire? You’re Not Alone

Michael Blann/Digital Vision(CINCINNATI) -- October is Fire Prevention Month, and a new survey commissioned for the occasion reveals that many Americans don’t feel comfortable putting out a blaze.

A survey of 1,009 adults commissioned by the Cintas Corporation, a manufacturer of first-aid and fire safety products, finds 19 percent of respondents would be afraid to put out a fire.

The survey found that 26 percent of women don’t feel comfortable putting out a fire, compared to 11 percent of men.

Seventy-seven percent of Americans would feel more comfortable using a fire extinguisher to put out a fire if they had training.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Study Says Foot 'Bawlers' Are Happier, Have Higher Self-Esteem

Hemera Technologies/Thinkstock(BLOOMINGTON, Ind.) -- There might not be crying in baseball but there is in college football and psychologists say that's a good thing.

According to a new study released Monday, researchers found that players who tear up after losing a game tend to have higher self-esteem than those who "man-up" and don't show their true emotions.

Researchers at Indiana University-Bloomington also say that college athletes who display physical affection toward other players seem to be happier in whatever they do.

Study researcher Jesse Steinfeldt remarked that players who "are emotionally expressive are more likely to have a mental edge on and off the field."

They mentioned how the media was wrong to have singled out former University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow for crying after his team lost a big game in 2009, even labeling him Tim "Tearbow."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Louisiana Hospital Won't Allow Workers to Wear Smoky Clothes

Hemera/Thinkstock(ALEXANDRIA, La.) -- Some workers might think it stinks that they won't be able to go back on the job if they smell of their last cigarette, but administrators at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana don't care, as the facility is taking its anti-smoking policy to another level.

Next July, the hospital will officially ban all employees from smoking at work, even during breaks.  It's an expansion of a policy that already exists in the women's and children's areas.

Cabrini officials say that the toxins from third-hand smoke that collects in fabrics can be especially detrimental to the brains of small children and infants.

Employees were notified of the new policy by mail two months ago so they can adjust their habits accordingly.  Ultimately, the hospital would prefer that all its workers be smoke-free by next July.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Hearts of Cheerleaders and Ballplayers Can Suddenly Stop, Say Experts

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(LOS ANGELES) -- An apparently healthy high school cheerleader who died after collapsing during a football game this past weekend likely experienced sudden cardiac arrest, a rare occurrence that has again raised questions about the value of widespread screening.

Bystanders at Friday night's game briefly revived Angela Gettis, 16, of George Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, using CPR, but she was pronounced dead at a local hospital after her heart stopped.

Gettis had no known health problems; her family is awaiting results of an autopsy to learn how her life ended so unexpectedly. A member of the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, Gettis had planned to major in forensic science in college.

Her death comes on the heels of sudden cardiac deaths among a half-dozen brawny high school football players in Texas, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida as they trained in the suffocating summer heat. The boys had several things in common, including having heavy-set physiques and collapsing early in the practice season, a likely result of pushing themselves when they weren't accustomed to the exertion.

Cheerleaders can be similarly stricken. On April 5, a 16-year-old girl collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest during cheerleading tryouts at North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey. Quick-thinking coaches and parents, who had been trained in CPR and use of automatic external defibrillators, sprang to action and saved her life.

However, in many cases, youngsters don't survive these episodes. Janet Zilinski, an 11-year-old New Jersey girl, died from sudden cardiac arrest after cheerleading practice on Aug. 10, 2006. Her parents, Jim and Karen Zilinski, created the Janet Zilinski Memorial Fund, which is pressing for a New Jersey law requiring AEDs at all public and private schools and sports fields and mandating that schools and sports camps have trained responders as well as emergency action plans.

Sudden cardiac deaths remain relatively rare, with an estimated one in 100,000 to three in 100,000 young U.S. athletes succumbing annually, said Dr. Kathleen Maginot, a pediatric cardiologist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The incidence could be as rare as 1 in 1 million among children from ages 1 to 18, said Dr. Ian Law, a specialist in inherited heart rhythm disorders at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

Maginot and Law said the No. 1 condition leading to the youngsters' deaths is hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a congenital problem in which the heart becomes abnormally thickened. Second are abnormalities that impede blood flow through the arteries (not to be confused with artery-clogging accumulations of plaque), Law said.

Other conditions that can set the stage for sudden cardiac death include inherited arrhythmias, in which the heart beats erratically; infection of the heart muscle called viral myocarditis; other heart enlargements that weaken the heart; and inherited heart defects, including those that have been surgically repaired, Maginot said.

Before youngsters engage in vigorous sports, their parents and coaches should be aware of cardiac risks such as a family history of sudden death before the age of 50, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or a history of fainting during exertion. The warning signs include passing out during exercise (which some athletes may try to hide out of fear they'll be told to stop playing), as well as palpitations and chest pain. Maginot also cautioned that episodes that look like seizures may not be epilepsy, but might result from irregular heart rhythms that interfere with blood flow to the brain.

Although an increasing number of schools now monitor athletes' heart rates, which should revert to normal after increasing during exertion, widespread cardiac screening of young athletes has not been adopted by either the American Heart Association or the American College of Cardiologists.

Maginot said cardiac screening "would definitely pick up" abnormalities among some young athletes who died earlier this year, such as those whose inherited cardiac abnormalities put them "at increased risk of arrhythmias after their life-saving surgical repairs." However, she said, had athletes who developed viral infections before their deaths been given typical screening tests last fall, the tests "would likely have been normal since they did not develop their illness until later."

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio

Study: Makeup Makes Women Appear More Competent

Medioimages/Photodisc/Thinkstock(BOSTON) -- Makeup makes women appear more attractive and competent, according to a new study by a team comprised of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston University and Proctor & Gamble.

The research reveals that when viewers saw a female face for 250 milliseconds, women who wore color cosmetics rated more highly in the categories of attractiveness, competence, likability and trustworthiness. However, when participants were allowed to look at the faces for a longer period of time, while the ratings for competence and attractiveness stayed the same, the ratings for likability and trustworthiness changed based on specific makeup looks.

A Proctor & Gamble chemist and co-author on the study, Dr. Sarah Vickery, said the research could have an impact on the cosmetic industry.

"We're really seeing for the first time how that impacts how others perceive us so that could lead to new color palates, new finishes or it could impact how we organize our color collections for women," she said.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio