You are what your mother ate

In 2007, the heaviest woman ever to give birth weighed in at 532 pounds, and it took 30 doctors to perform the C-section. While she’s an extreme example of what’s happening across North America, the average weight for a 20- to 29-year-old woman (average age for first birth is 25) jumped nearly 29 pounds between 1960 and 2002.

Since then, the weight-gain epidemic has spread even more widely. That’s because a mom’s life-long nutritional habits have a huge influence on whether her children grow up to be obese. And it’s not just that she’s setting a poor example (nurture). New lab studies reveal that eating a high-fat diet blocks expression of a gene called Pomc. That epigenetic change (nature) affects signaling pathways in the mother’s brain that control everything from blood sugar levels to appetite. As those changes to a mom’s genes get passed down, it takes her kids longer to feel full, and they eat more. (And guys, listen up. Chances are how you live today also affects how your children will live tomorrow.)

So, to win the war against the current obesity epidemic – and protect future generations: Stop eating saturated and trans fats in red meat and processed foods; eliminate fried foods, sugars and added syrups from your plate; get moving (a minimum of 30 minutes added physical activity a day); and aim to walk 10,000 steps daily. Then the legacy you leave your children will be a happier, healthier life. What could be better?

How to use and choose your drink

Some folks use sodas to establish bizarre records (longest time to balance six unopened soda cans on a chin is 12.57 seconds), and others down Death Wish Coffee; it delivers double the caffeine in every cup and is made from organic robusta beans. Our take on such over-the-top behavior? According to two recent studies on soda and coffee, these folks have their choices, well, about right.

Soda should only be used (unopened) for silly tricks. A new study reveals that for every daily serving of soda a postmenopausal woman drinks (diet or full sugar, caffeinated or not) her risk of having a hip fracture jumps 14 percent. It’s possible that phosphoric acid, aka phosphorus, added to soda (around 60 mg in a 12-ounce can) to enhance flavor and control microorganisms, blocks calcium absorption and weakens bones. It’s easy to get enough of this mineral (you want around 700 mg daily) from the food you eat: a cup of whole-grain cereal and a cup of skim milk have 480 mg; six ounces of salmon, 170 mg; a serving of asparagus, 88 mg. You’ve had your quota. You can see how having a couple (or more) sodas every day can overload you with phosphorus and take a toll.

And coffee? A new study shows even the high-test brew isn’t harmful (if you’re a fast caffeine metabolizer and don’t get jittery or sleepless from drinking it). In fact, drinking six or more cups a day triggers no increased risk of heart disease or death from any other cause.

How to get generic drugs you need

“It was just on the tip of my tongue. What was it?”

If you’re taking medication, chances are the answer to your questions is “a generic drug.” About 80 percent of prescribed medications are generics. But there’s been some (justified) worry that generics aren’t the same as the brand-name meds they replace. (Manufacturers in India were caught blatantly faking data.) The Food and Drug Administration is due to release more in-depth info on the quality of generics, but the study is slated for completion in 2017. So here’s what you need to know, and a great tip for making sure you get the best medication.

There are two types of generics (that’s a well-kept secret): approved and authorized. FDA-approved generics are required to have the same active ingredient, strength, dosage form and route of administration as the brand-name product. They can, however, have an absorption rate that’s 3.5 percent more or less than the original drug. If the active drug has a narrow therapeutic index, slight deviation from the brand version can make it the wrong choice for some folks. Also, approved generics don’t have to contain identical inactive ingredients – and those may affect you differently.

But there are hundreds of FDA-approved, manufacturer-authorized generic medications. They’re identical to the brand-name version in all ingredients and in absorption rate. For a list, go to www.FDA.gov and search “authorized generic drugs.” If you’re taking any of these drugs, ask your doctor if an authorized version will save you money and give you assured quality and effectiveness.

Cough it up!

Ahem! When you hear that theatrical cough, a character’s fate is about to change. Alec Baldwin once parodied that trope on “Saturday Night Live,” offering actors-to-be an instructional CD titled, “First Coughs: Foreshadowing Your Character’s Death.” But offstage, coughs from the common cold or bronchitis are no laughing matter (though they aren’t usually life-threatening) and neither is the codeine and other ingredients found in cough meds.

Cough meds are, unfortunately, a major source of recreational drug abuse for teens. Chronic abuse of codeine-laced prescription cough meds can damage your brain’s white matter, where nerve fibers live. And there are around 125 over-the-counter products containing dextromethorphan, which when super-dosed produces hallucinations and dissociative episodes like the street drugs PCP or special K (ketamine).

So, as you head into cold and flu season, here’s how best to manage cough symptoms and cough meds.

1. Kids shouldn’t be given codeine, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. A third get no relief from the drug; one in 12 can suffer seriously slowed breathing. Yet, up to 877,000 prescriptions are written annually for kids’ codeine cough meds. And no kids under 4 should ever be given the OTC cough suppressant dextromethorphan.

2. Most coughs are viral. That means only around 10 percent respond to antibiotics.

3. The best medicine for coughs? Dark honey. Try 2 teaspoons 30 minutes before bedtime, as well as steaming, drinking hot tea and using a purified water and saline nasal spray – a neti pot is one of our favorite choices, but it must be kept clean and sterile.

This story was originally published September 27, 2014 at 2:39 PM with the headline "You are what your mother ate."