Print edition: 
Women who suffer from hot flashes and other uncomfortable symptoms of menopause may be able to find relief through acupuncture, according to a new study.
The idea of having to lie still for 20 minutes with needles sticking out of you may not appeal to everyone. But hormone replacement therapy — often employed to make menopause more bearable — has problems of its own, including an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and breast cancer.
So Turkish researchers recruited 53 postmenopausal women and assigned 27 of them to a five-week course of acupuncture (twice a week for 20 minutes at a time); 26 of them got a fake acupuncture treatment. Women in the treatment group had needles inserted at 10 acupuncture points; women in the placebo group were treated with blunted needles that didn't penetrate the skin.
At the end of the study period, the women who got acupuncture showed more relief from their symptoms. Their hot flashes were less severe (there was no change for women who got the sham treatment). Both groups had improvements in their psychological symptoms (as measured by the Menopause Rating Scale), though the benefit was much greater for women who got acupuncture. In addition, estrogen levels were significantly higher for the women in the treatment group compared with the controls.
The results were published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine.— Los Angeles Times
10 ways to get more veggies in your diet
Vegetables are important for a good diet — they can reduce risk of stroke, heart disease and some cancers and can contribute to healthy weight.
The people at TOPS (Take Pounds Off Sensibly), a nonprofit weight-loss support group, came up with a Top 10 list of ways to get more veggies in your diet. Some you may already do, and some may be new ideas:
1. Make a "pasta" dish with spaghetti squash instead of noodles.
2. Puree cooked vegetables and add them to stews, gravies and soups.
3. Add raw spinach leaves and an extra-ripe banana to a fruit smoothie. It may sound strange, but the sweetness of the banana masks the taste of the spinach.
4. Baking? Add shredded carrots to muffins or bread.
5. Instead of cheese and meat, pile your morning omelet with onions, mushrooms, and red and green peppers. Chop vegetables the night before to save time in the morning.
6. Add chopped spinach to meat when preparing meatballs or hamburgers.
7. Try mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. Experiment with different flavorings such as garlic, a dab of butter and Parmesan cheese.
8. Add salsa to a breakfast burrito, pile it on a veggie burger, or use it in place of high-fat, creamy vegetable dips.
9. Puree pasta sauce with vegetables such as winter squash or chopped broccoli.
10. Add chopped carrots to casseroles or meat loaf.
—Baltimore Sun
