Insights from the Editor

You probably know that eating a healthier diet can help you lose weight and keep cholesterol in check. But did you know choosing the right foods can also help your skin? Just as calcium is critical in bone health, other nutrients play a crucial role in the health of your skin, hair and nails—and those nutrients may even help you look younger.

Skin cells need certain nutrients to repair and regenerate. This is also true for healthy hair and nails. And that's where the foods you put on your plate come in. Here are nine nutrition secrets that can help you look and feel younger.

Antioxidants including vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A are substances that protect against the breaking down of cells in the body, including the skin. The best protection is an array of antioxidants, from brightly colored fruits and vegetables. Add dark green leafy vegetables, broccoli, blueberries, cantaloupe, pink grapefruit, red peppers, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, plums, prunes, purple grapes, beets and tomatoes to your weekly menu.

Vitamin C is essential for the formation of collagen, the spongy stuff that keeps skin plump and wrinkle-free. You can find vitamin C in citrus fruits, red peppers, dark green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, strawberries and kiwi fruit.

Beta Carotene is critical for skin health, too. In the body, it converts to vitamin A and is involved in the growth and repair of skin cells and may protect against sun damage. Note: Vitamin A supplements in high doses can be toxic so go for carrots, pumpkin, mangos, sweet potatoes and other orange colored foods.

Vitamin E helps protect healthy cells and guards against sun damage, too. Wheat germ, fortified cereals, nuts and seeds have vitamin E. There's even some research that suggests Vitamin E can join forces with Vitamin C for an extra boost of anti-aging skin protection. So how about a glass of orange juice with a handful of almonds for an afternoon snack to nourish your skin?

Healthy fats such as omega-3 fats found in salmon, flaxseed and walnuts and the mono-unsaturated oils found in olive oil, canola oil, avocados and nut butters are heart healthy and help keep skin moisturized from the inside out.

Beauty on the half-shell? Oysters are a great source of the mineral zinc which is involved in wound healing and the formation of new collagen. Rather have sushi? The mineral selenium found in tuna and crab may help delay aging by reducing sun damage and protecting skin's elasticity. Selenium is also found in grass-fed beef and buffalo.

Finally, think about what you drink: Overdoing it at the bar—even the coffee bar—can show on your face. Avoid excess alcohol and caffeine which can dry and dehydrate your skin, robbing the cells of needed water, and causing fine lines to be more visible. And be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day and eat water-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables. This helps keep your skin hydrated and looking its best.

There's nothing like a study touting the health benefits of drinking alcohol to put people in a celebratory mood. No doubt moderate drinkers are tipping their glasses to one such study published in the September issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

The study found that drinkers aged 55 to 65 have lower mortality rates than non-drinkers. That's right: Subjects who did not drink had twice the risk of death as moderate drinkers (defined as someone who drinks two to three drinks a day). Even compared to heavy drinkers, who average more than three drinks a day, the mortality risk for non-drinkers in the study was still higher.

The study adds to other research that's been pointing to the benefits of drinking a little alcohol--mostly in the form of red wine.

But before you break out the champagne, it's important to note that most of the non-drinkers in the study were less healthy than the drinkers to begin with.

According to the authors, the abstainers were more likely to have "prior drinking problems, to be obese and to smoke cigarettes" than their drinking counterparts. They also were less affluent, less likely to be physically active, less likely to be married and less likely to socialize—factors associated with shorter lifespans.

Once researchers controlled for those factors, subjects in the study died in rates similar to heavy drinkers, but still higher than moderate drinkers.

Good news for the cocktail crowd? Maybe not. It's hard for scientists to effectively control for that many factors, and this kind of study—one where subjects self report their behavior—doesn't produce the most reliable results.

Some people may interpret the findings as an open invitation to belly up to the bar. And that's a problem. As the researchers in the study point out, moderate drinking can increase the risk of falls, lead to alcohol abuse and interfere with certain medications in older people.

Plus, there are other things people in this age group can do that are proven to have a bigger impact on mortality rates than consuming alcohol—such as losing weight, quitting smoking and socializing more. And those are definitely worth toasting.

From moms on a mission to depression in toddlers, here's the health news we're reading this week.

Is Palliative Care the Secret to Extending Life?
It may be hard not to think about "death panels" when someone brings up palliative care, but new research shows the branch of medicine often associated with end-of-life care can actually extend life. In one study, patients with advanced lung cancer had better quality of life and lived longer when receiving palliative care versus traditional therapies. Four experts discuss the palliative care research on NPR's The Diane Rehm Show.

Depressed at age 4?
It's hard to imagine a cherub-faced toddler with depression. The occasional tantrum, okay, but clinical depression? But a piece in this week's New York Times Magazine dives into the biggest child psychology issue since ADHD: "Today a number of child psychiatrists and developmental psychologists say depression can surface in children as young as 2 or 3." Scary.

A Dozen Great Mom Blogs
What's not to love about dear old Mom? She cooks, she cleans, she tends to our scrapes and bruises ---- and she even blogs. While the mommy blogger isn't a new phenomenon, this list of 12 mommy bloggers by Ladies' Home Journal puts the spotlight on some of the best in the business.

What to Do When You Can't Get Your Earrings In
From the "Ouch, that hurts" department comes this dispatch on how to reopen closed ear piercings in CNN.com's Paging Dr. Gupta blog:

It may be necessary to push the earring post through a thin membrane of tissue. Look behind the ear so you can see the post pushing against the thinnest part of the lobe and then gently apply pressure to get the earring through. Trying to insert the earring from the back side first may work if you can't get it in from the front.

With all the stories about eggs in the news, you probably know the basics for avoiding salmonella poisoning: Don't eat runny eggs, wash utensils and counter tops after use, and avoid the billion or so eggs the Food and Drug Administration has recalled.

But that's not the complete story for playing it safe around eggs. Here are seven things you might not know about cooking eggs safely:

• Cook casseroles and other dishes containing eggs to 160 degrees. Use a food thermometer to be sure.

• Eat hard-cooked eggs within one week of cooking

• If you refrigerate quiches or soufflés, reheat them to 165 degrees before serving.

• Divide hot egg dishes into shallow containers before refrigerating.

• Bake meringue-topped pies at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

• Use a cooked egg-milk mixture or pasteurized egg produces for homemade ice cream (or choose a recipe that doesn't use eggs).

• For recipes that call for raw eggs, heat the eggs in one of the recipe's other liquid ingredients to 160 degrees before adding them.

For more on egg safety, visit the FDA's consumer egg safety site.

Since penicillin became available to the public in the mid-20th century, antibiotics have changed the face of health care. Infections that routinely were fatal 60 years ago are today little more than inconveniences.

Despite these amazing advances, we face critical problems: Bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to available antibiotics. One cause is the unnecessary use of antibiotics in minor respiratory infections. Next time you see your doctor for a cold or other minor respiratory infection, remember three things:

You may not need antibiotics.
Most upper respiratory tract infections—the common cold, minor sinus infections, and sore throats—are viral and do not respond to antibiotics. (The exception is strep throat, for which there are specific tests available.)

Studies show that we expect antibiotics and a quick fix when we go to the doctor's office for these problems. Unfortunately, physicians sometimes feel obliged to meet those expectations, even though these viral infections usually resolve in a few days without antibiotics.

Antibiotics can be associated with allergic reactions.
Sometimes those reactions can even be life-threatening. Even appropriate use of antibiotics can be associated with Clostridium difficile colitis, a secondary bacterial infection of the colon accompanied by severe diarrhea and fever, occasionally requiring hospitalization.

Antibiotics can also have important interactions with other medications, especially drugs like blood thinners and heart medications.

Taking unnecessary antibiotics can make you more susceptible to resistant bacteria.
Resistant bacteria can be more difficult and expensive to treat. Plus, patients can remain sick longer because of the delay in effective treatment. Children's ear infections, for example, can be hard to clear up, and we even encounter infections in hospitals for which there are no viable antibiotic options.

The next time you or your child goes to the doctor for a cold, remember that medicines to fight symptoms may be all you need. Don't be upset if your doctor doesn't write a prescription for an antibiotic. He or she may be doing you—and the rest of us—a favor.

For more information on antibiotic resistance, see the Centers for Disease Control's website.