Wednesday December 6, 2000

Daily Dose

An easy way to keep off 15-pounds in the coming year, a hardly known fact about calcium, and how your dentists x-ray vision just might save your life. It's time for today's Daily Dose.

Open wide! Your dental x-rays may show you have something much more serious than a cavity. A new report finds x-rays may indicate if a patient is dangerously close to having a stroke! The dental scans can pick up blocked arteries in the neck which could mean a stroke could happen at any moment.

Did you know you can get too much calcium? Eating calcium enriched foods and taking calcium supplements can push you over what's considered a safe limit. Too much calcium can increase your risk of kidney stones. To avoid a calcium overdose, get 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams of calcium a day from foods and supplements. A glass of milk has about 300 milligrams of calcium.

And finally, according to a recent article in Self magazine, most women today eat 148 more calories a day than they did in the 70's. That adds up to 15 extra pounds a year. Want an easy way out? Cut out half that bagel or one can of soda. Try skipping that granola bar or just say no to a seven ounce glass of wine. That ought to keep you keep you from piling on the pounds.



And that's today's Daily Dose.