Issue Date: July 29, 2007
How to get a fair fare
Online airfare predictors tell you the best time to buy tickets.
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A new breed of online search engine attempts to predict the cheapest time to buy airfare.
Most noteworthy: Farecast, which searches for the lowest round-trip, one-way or multi-city fares between more than 75 U.S. airports. It then predicts if fares on those tickets will rise or drop over the next seven days, based on historical airfare data. And it recommends whether to buy now or later. An independent three-month audit released in May said Farecast's predictions are 74.5% accurate.
A competing site, FareCompare, displays airfares on an easy-to-scan calendar grid. And its maps provide travelers the lowest fares from a given city.
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The canine cancer cure
It's a lofty goal, to say the least, but the non-profit Morris Animal Foundation has kicked off a Canine Cancer Campaign. The goal is to cure cancer in dogs within the lifetime of a new puppy purchased now -- 10 to 20 years.
One in every four dogs succumbs to cancer. "We're dreaming big," says Patricia Olson, CEO and president of Morris, "but that's how big things happen."
If the foundation, which funds research on animal health issues, succeeds at curing cancer in dogs, there will be a spillover effect for human medicine. Learn more at caninecancer.org.
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Is your child eating eating smart?
The best way to keep your kid svelte and smart is not via a traditional low-calorie, low-fat or low-carb diet, insists David Ludwig, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics with Harvard Medical School, in his book, Ending the Food Fight.
He says the real culprits in childhood obesity are high-glycemic foods that spike blood sugar. Low-glycemic foods suppress kids' appetites (they eat fewer calories) and keep young brains from crashing after sugar highs. Some low-glycemic foods: oatmeal, peanuts, sourdough and whole-wheat breads, dried beans, whole fruits, vegetables and vinegary salad dressings.
Carper's latest book is "Jean Carper's Complete Healthy Cookbook." For obesity research, see endingthefoodfight.com.
Tips from the obesity expert
Ban sugary drinks. Studies show that the risk of childhood obesity soars as sweetened soft drink consumption goes up. Limit fruit juice to 1 cup a day.
Restrict fast food consumption to no more than once a week; less is better.
Forget low-fat diets and fat-free foods. Fats actually suppress blood sugar surges and are filling, so kids need to eat some fat to feel full. "Throw away the fat-free dressings," Ludwig says. "Give your kids peanut butter on whole-grain toast for breakfast, avocado dips as an afternoon snack and broccoli sautéed in olive oil for dinner." Avoid harmful trans fats (in many processed foods and baked goods), and don't overindulge in saturated animal fats.
Give kids small portions on small plates. Studies show that everyone is likely to eat more when given large portions.
Be in charge of what you offer your kids to eat at home. If your children reject something, do not offer alternatives. The kids will not starve.
Don't keep junk food in the house. Good snacks: nuts; whole or dried fruit.
Don't watch TV during meals. It leads to inactivity and overeating.
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Get your heart pumping
To make the most of any workout, celebrity fitness and diet expert Harley Pasternak says it's all about exercising smarter. "People hop on the treadmill and think they have to push through a 45-minute run," he says. "That isn't the case."
Instead, the 5-Factor Diet author suggests sandwiching 15 minutes of strength training between five-minute cardio blocks on the treadmill.
"Pick up the pace right out of the gate," he says. Begin with a brisk walk, then speed up and increase the incline. "This gets your heart rate up," getting you in the fat-burning zone, "and gives you a fuller range of muscle motion to further sculpt leg muscles."
Next, jump right into strength training. "This way, you are maximizing the workout you get on the treadmill; it carries over and helps you burn fat while getting to your core muscles," Pasternak says.
End with five more minutes of cardio. "Keep the incline up and the pace fast for this cardio finish," he says. "This method will make sure those 10 minutes on the treadmill actually carry over to a 25-minute, all-body workout."
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