| Grill talk: Barbecue expert tackles our burning questions
With five bestselling cookbooks in as many years, a public television show and a school devoted to cooking over fire, Steven Raichlen has made his name synonymous with barbecue. He's the guy in the denim shirt and dark glasses smiling on the covers of books and sharing his grilling secrets on Saturday morning TV. He introducedAmericans to beer-can chicken -- in which the bird is roasted atop an open can of beer -- and taught them how to grill with indirect heat. Recently, Raichlen brought his bright-yellow barbecue bus to the Mercury News as part of the national book tour for ``BBQ USA.'' Although the rest of the nation is starting to put grills away for the season, we Californians still have months of good barbecue weather ahead. In a little over an hour, the author turned out zesty chicken wings -- cooked indirectly with coals piled on either side of a large foil drip pan -- on a charcoal grill, as well as corn, artichokes and peach kebabs on a gas grill.
Overexposure to the Sun Can Happen Indoors and Outdoors
In the car, at work or walking to and from a store, you can't escape the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. However, new research about the transmission of UV light through window and automobile glass and through sunglasses, has led to developments that can help protect people from the sun. "People should realize that even during everyday activities they are receiving incidental sun exposure which harms the skin as it accumulates and can result in premature aging, wrinkles and even skin cancer," said dermatologist Henry W. Lim, M.D., chairman of the department of dermatology, Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich., and co-author of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology article entitled, "Photoprotection by window glass, automobile glass and sunglasses." "Dermatologists and manufacturers of glass products and sunglasses are continually working to find better ways to decrease the amount of UV radiation being filtered through these items to the skin and eyes.
Improved Nutrition Through Maize Meal Fortification
GENERAL nutrition levels in Zambia indicate that one in every two children under five years of age suffer from iron deficiency. The justification is that children experience rapid physical growth. Thus, sexual maturation significantly increases. They develop a need for micronutrients, especially iron, while adolescent girls' growth spurt occurs before menarche - first menstrual periods. Adolescent children continue to grow in height. Linear growth particularly of the long bones is not complete until the age of 18 and peak bone mass is not achieved until the age of 25. At two years of age, many of the children who survive under such nutritional stress are stunted due to lack of Vitamin A with little chance of recovery. Moreover, in some parts of the world children, especially girls, are discriminated against in access to food, health care and education.
Myths and Facts About Vitamin D and Sun Exposure
In recent weeks, many news reports have focused on the potential health benefits of vitamin D. This news coverage has led to the incorrect perception that you have to intentionally seek the sun or an artificial source of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in order to get the health benefits that vitamin D may provide. "Any individual or organization advocating intentional sun exposure as the preferred means of obtaining vitamin D is doing a tremendous disservice to the public," said Barbara A. Gilchrest, M.D., professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Boston University School of Medicine. "Vitamin D is critical to healthy bones, and some research now suggests that maintaining higher levels than traditionally believed to be sufficient may offer additional health benefits.
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