Is Chocolate A New Health Food?Written by Meri Raffetto RD
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your lucky day! The darker chocolate, higher cocoa content and more antioxidants it contains. The quality of chocolate you consume is also important. The cocoa butter is quite pricey so less expensive brands will replace cocoa butter with milk fats and hydrogenated oils which are bad for our health. Look for high quality chocolates with their main ingredients being cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Unsweetened cocoa powder is one of purest forms of chocolate you can eat and is lower in fat and calories than other chocolates. Although this is great news for all chocolate lovers, don’t forget that most chocolate (unless you use unsweetened cocoa powder) does still contain sugar and saturated fat. And please remember calories. An ounce of chocolate contains around 135 calories. So enjoy a cup of hot cocoa or an ounce of chocolate once in awhile to contribute to your health and not to your waistline! © Meri Raffetto, 2004
Meri Raffetto is a Registered Dietitian and a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She has developed online weight management programs to help people get off of diets and get into way of life. For more information or to sign up for our free newsletter, visit www.reallivingnutrition.com.
| | Considerations to make when purchasing contact lenses onlineWritten by Wesley Atkins
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•Though infections of cornea are rare, severe cases can cause loss of vision and even blindness. During regularly scheduled visits, your eye doctor looks for irregularities that, if left untreated, may lead to severe problems. These irregularities often have no symptoms and you may be totally unaware of them. •Contact lens wear causes many changes to cells and tissues of eye, and sometimes wearing contact lenses can damage cornea (the clear window of eye). Even if you are currently experiencing no problems, lenses may be causing damage to your eyes. Regular check-ups will reduce likelihood of damage going undetected. •Contact lenses that are not properly fitted by an eye doctor might not work well, or even worse, may harm your eyes. •Ask your eye doctor how often to have a check-up. Will regular check-ups help prevent me from having problems with my contact lenses? •Anyone wearing contact lenses runs an increased risk of corneal infection. Regular check-ups will help reduce your chances of having a problem. At your check-up, your doctor may find something that requires refitting with a new lens or requires modifying your wearing schedule. What can I do to avoid serious problems with my contact lenses? •Ask your eye doctor how often you should have a check-up and see doctor according to recommended schedule. •You run a greater risk of developing serious eye problems such as infection if you wear lenses overnight. •Order your contact lenses from a supplier you are familiar with and know is reliable. Contact lenses are often more complex than they appear. •Request manufacturer’s written patient information for your contact lenses. It will give you important risk/benefit information, as well as instructions for use. •Beware of attempts to substitute a different brand than you presently have. While this may be acceptable in some situations, there are differences in water content and shape between different brands. The correct choice of which lens is right for you should only be made based on examination by your doctor, not over phone. •Carefully check to make sure company gives you othe exact brand, olens name, opower, sphere, cylinder, if any, axis, if any, odiameter, obase curve, and operipheral curves, if any. •If you think you have gotten an incorrect lens, check with your eye doctor. Don’t accept a substitution unless your doctor approves it. Where can I report problems that I have with my contact lenses? •You can report a serious eye problem associated with your contact lenses with FDA’s MedWatch reporting form at: http://www.fda.gov/medwatch. Also, contact your health professional for medical advice. •You can report problems involving contact lens sales by Web sites by sending e-mail to webcomplaints@ora.fda.gov. •If you do not get exact lenses that you ordered, you should report problem directly to company that supplied them.
Wesley atkins is the owner of Contact Lenses Advisor a website dedicated to advising consumers about buying contact lenses safely online.. You can visit his website at -- http://www.contact-lenses-advisor.com
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