4C Sunday, November 11,2018
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com
HEALTH
Tykes, tweens, teens are turning to yoga
BY MARIE MCCULLOUGH
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The popularity of yoga is boom
ing in the U.S. — among children.
More than 8 percent of young
sters ages 4 to 17 — or 4.9 mil
lion — practiced yoga last year,
up from about 3 percent in 2012,
according to federal survey data
published recently.
That’s a lot of child’s poses.
The report from the National
Center for Health Statistics doesn’t
distinguish between kids who tried
yoga just once in the previous 12
months and those who turned into
yogis. Nor does it explain why
they’re practicing the ancient dis
cipline of exercise, breathing, and
meditation. But the upward trend
fits with a complementary Center
for Health Statistics report that
found the percentage of adults who
did yoga during the previous year
jumped from 10 percent in 2012 to
14 percent in 2017.
“We didn’t ask why or how or
where,” said coauthor Lindsey I.
Black, an epidemiologist with the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. “But we do have
anecdotal evidence that children
are exposed to yoga in schools,
gyms, studios, and through apps
and the internet.”
Virginia Caton, owner of Down
ward Dog Dance, Yoga & Wellness
studio in Richmond, Va., can attest
to that, having seen steady growth
in the number of schools and pre
schools that hire her.
“Principals are seeing that the
after-school programs they had
before aren’t working,” Caton
said. “They’re looking for some
thing that will calm the kids down.
Of course, no child is going to do an
hour-long vinyasa class; it’s not like
an adult yoga class. We integrate
movement, sound, and dance.”
Studio 34 on Baltimore Avenue
in West Philadelphia does occa
sional introductory yoga classes
for high school students. On Thurs
day, a group of 12th graders was
signed up to learn how to use yoga
to release stress before a test, said
studio co-owner and instructor
Adrienne Dolberry.
“We don’t have an established
class, but we do special requests,”
she said. “We set up the mats, blan
kets, and blocks, and walk them
through a beginner-friendly class. ”
The federal health survey is con
ducted face-to-face in the homes of
a representative sample of citizens.
Parents or other guardians supply
the information on children.
The 2012 questionnaire tried to
delve into the costs and potential
benefits of using a long list of com
plementary health approaches
with children — not only yoga, but
also qigong, tai chi, massage, acu
puncture, biofeedback, Ayurveda,
craniosacral therapy, Pilates, and
more. Most of these were so unpop
ular that they were dropped from
the 2015 questionnaire, Black said.
No surprise, the survey found
yoga usage varies by sex: More
than one in 10 girls practiced it,
compared with one in 20 boys. Sur
prisingly, age didn’t make much
difference: 8 percent of kids ages
12 to 17 did yoga, compared to 8.7
percent of those ages 4 to 11.
The survey also found about
3.4 percent of children saw a
chiropractor last year, virtually
unchanged over the last five years.
The percentage who meditated
grew, from about 3 percent to
more than 8 percent, but media
tion was defined so broadly that it
could reflect kids saying the “om”
mantra during yoga.
Rethink that cold brew: Hot coffee
might be better for your health
BY MARI A. SCHAEFER
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Those claims that cold-
brew coffee will cause less
heartburn and is healthier
than hot brew? They may be
exaggerated.
Two overly caffeinated
researchers from Jeffer
son University (the merged
Philadelphia University
and Thomas Jefferson Uni
versity) decided to put the
claims to the test and inves
tigate the acidity and anti
oxidant activity of cold-brew
coffee. The paper by Niny
Rao, an associate professor
of chemistry, and Megan
Fuller, an assistant profes
sor of chemistry, was pub
lished in Scientific Reports.
When looking at acidity,
the researchers found that
the pH levels of both brews
were similar and ranged
between 4.85 and 5.13 after
they tested samples for all
the varieties in their study.
The higher the pH, the less
acidic the brew, and the less
likely it would be to cause an
upset stomach.
They also found that hot
coffee had more beneficial
antioxidants than cold brew.
Inspiration for the
study came from personal
experience.
Rao tried to make a batch
of cold-brew coffee at home
and brought it to work.
“It did not turn out as well
as it could be,” she said.
After some discussion in
the lab about the industry’s
marketing efforts and find
ing there was no research
behind the claims that cold
brew is better — a big red
flag — the pair initiated
their study.
They tried to control as
many variables as possible,
including grind size, roast
temperatures, and water
chemistry, Fuller said.
They used six coffees
from Brazil, Colombia,
Myanmar, Mexico, and two
regions of Ethiopia that
were available locally, and
JOHN GASTALDO I Tribune News Service
According to researchers, however, a hot brew of java might
be the healhier option.
looked for beans that were
harvested within a very
small area or region.
They were surprised by
the results.
“I thought the pHs would
be more different,” said
Fuller. “They were remark
ably close.”
Fuller noted that the
internet allows for the rapid
sharing of ideas that are
not necessarily valid. That
sharing has proved to be a
successful business model,
though. The cold-brew mar
ket has shot up like a rocket,
580 percent from 2011 to
2016. It generated $38 mil
lion in 2017.
For the non-coffee drink
ers among us, cold brew is
made by steeping coarsely
ground fresh coffee beans in
cool water for an extended
period of time. The grounds
are then filtered out, using
paper coffee filters, a
French press, or another
such method.
Hot coffee is usually
made with water heated
to between 195 and 205
degrees Fahrenheit, using
one to two tablespoons of
ground coffee for every six
ounces of water, according
to the National Coffee Asso
ciation. Iced coffee is made
by pouring regular hot cof
fee that has cooled over ice.
The two researchers are
big coffee connoisseurs.
Fuller’s favorite coffee
drink is an Americano with
three shots of espresso from
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High Point Cafe, sometimes
with milk and cocoa. Rao
gets her organic Mexican
medium-roast beans from
Golden Valley Farms Coffee
Roasters in West Chester and
likes a small cup of lukewarm
black coffee to start her day.
Next, the researchers
will study how long you can
safely store homemade cold
brew in the refrigerator,
Fuller said. Unlike store-
bought varieties, it doesn’t
have preservatives.
“We are interested in
looking at microbial popula
tions,” she said.
What should coffee drink
ers do with the recent study
results?
“Don’t change your hab
its,” Fuller said. “You enjoy
what you enjoy.”
Southwest residents less
likely to properly dispose
of excess opioids
Mayo Clinic News Network and Prevention. Most of
ROCHESTER, Minn.
— Residents of the South
west are less concerned
about the risks of opioid
pain relievers and are less
likely to properly dispose
of unused medications,
according to the Mayo
Clinic National Health
Checkup. MCNHC, first
launched in January 2016,
provides a quick pulse on
consumer health opinions.
This latest snapshot of
Americans’ views on opi
oids comes at a time when
opioid-related overdose
deaths is climbing. A record-
breaking 72,000 Americans
died from drug overdoses
in 2017, according to pre
liminary estimates from the
Centers for Disease Control
those deaths were related to
opioids.
Key findings from resi
dents of the Southwest
include:
■ Just 15 percent of
residents cited concerns of
opioids’ side effects, com
pared to 18 percent nation
ally, and 24 percent for
Upper Midwest residents.
■ Residents were more
likely to speak with their
health care provider about
the risk of addiction to opi
oids (49 percent), while
just 41 percent of Ameri
cans reported doing so.
■ Residents are less
likely (23 percent) to par
ticipate in a drug disposal
program than those in
the Upper Midwest (48
percent).
Advanced
Eye Center
Welcomes New Optometrist
William C. Ackerman, Jr.,
M.D. and Advanced Eye
Center are pleased to announce
the addition of Centrael
"Sonny" Evans, M.D. as a
new ophthalmologist with the
practice. Dr. Evans completed
his undergraduate degree at
Brigham Young University, his
medical degree from Emory
University of Medicine and his
ophthalmology degree from the
State University of New York-
Buffalo, where he served as
Chief Resident.
Centrael "Sonny"
Dr Evans was nominated Evans M.D.
by faculty and peers into
the Richard Sarkin/Emeritus Faculty Chapter of the
Gold Humanism Honor Society The review process
of the society is by a Selection Committee for qualities
of extraordinary compassion, empathy, altruism, and
professionalism. He also received the Evan Calkins, MD,
Fellowship for Community-Based Research, to support
his research into improving outcomes for patients with
ophthalmological emergencies.
Dr. Evans is a comprehensive ophthalmologist trained
in the medical, laser and surgical management of a wide
variety of eye diseases such as Cataract, Glaucoma,
Diabetic Eye Disease, Macular Degeneration, Traumatic
Eye Injuries and more.
An Athens native and Jefferson resident, Dr. Evans enjoys
spending time with his family, hunting, restoring vintage
muscle cars and cheering for the Dawgs. He will be joining
the team at Advanced Eye Center on December 10,2018.
Dr. Evans is now accepting New Patients
Call 770-532-0292 to schedule your appointment
AiwancedEyeCente r
625 South Enota Drive • Gainesville, GA 30501 • 770-532-0292
www.aeceyecare.com
William C. Ackerman, Jr., M.D. Board Certified Ophthalmologist
