Antioxidants may help to reduce inflammation, reducing your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic disease. Here are seven herbs and spices that pack a powerful antioxidant punch.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon

Nutritional Highlights: Keep a shaker of cinnamon handy because this spice is not only versatile but contains the highest antioxidant levels of any spice. In addition to its potent antioxidant profile, early studies suggested that cinnamon might be effective for lowering blood sugar (glucose) levels in people with diabetes, although more research is needed.

How to use it: For those of you with a sweet tooth, use cinnamon for extra flavor and sweetness instead of added sugar. Jazz up plain cereal, yogurt and oatmeal with cinnamon, sprinkle on toast with peanut butter or almond butter, or even use in savory dishes with quinoa or couscous.

Clove

Nutritional Highlights: Derived from the flower buds of the evergreen clove tree, this spice is rich in polyphenols, which are plant-based compounds that have antioxidant properties.

Cloves are chock-full of antioxidants. Just ½ teaspoon of ground clove contains more antioxidants than ½ cup of blueberries.

How to use it: Ground clove is a flavorful addition to applesauce, stewed pears, and baked goods like sweet breads, muffins, and cookies. For a fragrant fall beverage, simmer 1 bottle (64 ounces) apple juice, 2 tablespoons honey, 4 Cinnamon Sticks, 1 teaspoon Whole Cloves and 1/2 lemon, sliced, in large saucepot for 30 minutes. Strain. Serve warm or chilled (recipe obtained from McCormick®).

Oregano

Nutritional Highlights: Used commonly in Mediterranean and Mexican cuisine, this flavorful herb contains the highest amount of antioxidants of 27 fresh culinary herbs. One teaspoon of dried oregano leaves provides as many antioxidants as ½ cup of strawberries or 3 ounces of almonds.

How to use it: Oregano goes far beyond spaghetti and pizza sauce. To flavor your eggs without the added fat, mix vegetables in with a dash of oregano instead of cheese. For an antioxidant boost, add oregano to your grilled cheese sandwich, casseroles and salad dressings.

Ginger

Ginger

Nutritional Highlights: Historically, ginger has been used to treat upset stomachs, the common cold and even motion sickness. Recently the focus has shifted to a compound in ginger called gingerol. Gingerol is thought to have anti-inflammatory properties and may help to sooth sore muscles after a hard work out. Ginger may also have cancer-fighting properties but more research is needed in this area.

How to use it: Add ¼ teaspoon ground ginger to vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes. Mix into fruit smoothies or add to fresh fruit like melons, peaches and pears. Add a hint to hot or cold tea or create Asian flare by adding to marinades and sautéed vegetables.

Turmeric

Nutritional Highlights: Turmeric gives curry powder its distinctive hue. Turmeric also contains a compound called curcumin. This bright-yellow compound is the focus of research for its potential to ward off diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

How to use it: Stir Turmeric into 1 tablespoon low fat plain or Greek style yogurt. Swirl mixture into a serving of lentil or split pea soup to add a color and flavor boost (recipe obtained from McCormick®). Add to any vegetable dish for added curry flavor.

Garlic

Garlic

Nutritional Highlights: Garlic enhances the flavor of everything from pasta sauce to bread, but can it prevent disease? Maybe. Research is focusing on garlic’s anticancer and cholesterol-lowering properties.

How to use it: sauté garlic and add to roasted vegetables and pasta sauce. Garlic used to flavor many foods, such as salad dressings, vinaigrettes, marinades, sauces, vegetables, meats, soups, and stews. Garlic powder can be substituted if necessary – 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder is equal to one medium fresh clove of common garlic.

Paprika

Nutritional Highlights: Contains a powerful compound called capsaicin, whose antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties may help lower risk of some cancers (also found in red chili peppers and cayenne). Hint: the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin you’ll find. Capsaicin may also help you to eat fewer calories during a meal by signaling your body that you’re full.

How to use it: Sprinkle over grilled or roasted meat, fish and poultry. Instead of using the salt shaker spice up your popcorn by make your own seasoning: combine paprika, ground thyme and ground pepper and sprinkle on plain popcorn.

Need a Registered Dietitian?

For more information or to make an appointment with a registered dietitian, call WakeMed Cary Hospital Outpatient Nutrition Services at 919-350-2358.

Amy Bowen, RD, LDN is a clinical dietitian at WakeMed Cary Hospital.

Dr. Curt Hanson of Wake Orthopaedics talks to WRAL about gradually increasing your intensity to prevent exercise-related injuries.  Any change in how or where you exercise should be done with caution.

The body can become accustomed to the controlled environment of the gym, and the differences present when exercising outdoors can cause injury.

View this video on WRAL.com.

View this video on WRAL.com.

WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank is in dire need of donations. It is one of only 10 operational milk banks in the U.S. and distributes more than 200,000 oz. of milk per year.

Mothers seek donor milk when they cannot nurse their babies. Premature babies in intensive care units often get top priority.

Milk banking in America is on the rise because of its many health benefits and the trust in the safety of donor milk. There has never been a documented disease or illness transmission through processed human milk.

Potential donors are screened – very similar to the way blood banks screen donors. View the four-step process to donate milk. Donors must be non-smokers and must not drink alcohol within 12 hours of pumping milk for the Milk Bank. There are also restrictions on the consumption of medications.

Donors are never paid.  However, the Mothers’ Milk Bank assumes all costs for blood testing and supplies containers to store milk.

Most donor mothers find they can begin pumping extra milk (typically four ounces each day) to donate once their own children are a few weeks old and are regularly gaining weight. Donors store the milk in their home freezer, then deliver the milk to our facility.

The Milk Banks asks out-of-town donors who overnight-express milk to send the product in batches of at least 200 to 300 ounce increments to help keep down shipping costs and ensure that the milk stays frozen.  Extensive shipping information.

Milk is transported to the WakeMed Mothers’ Milk Bank in a frozen state.  After it thaws, the milk is pooled and heat-treated to kill any bacteria or viruses.

The Milk Bank processes the product in 2-, 4-, or 8 oz. jars and refreezes it for storage.  It is dispensed only after a sample is cultured and shows no sign of bacterial growth.

The milk is then frozen and shipped overnight-express to hospitals and to recipients’ homes.

For more information on becoming a donor, please contact the WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank at (919) 350-8599. You may also e-mail a program coordinator at suevans@wakemed.org

Sue Evans is a lactation specialist and executive director of WakeMed Mother’s Milk Bank.

Parents often have questions like:  “When should I worry?”  “How high is too high?”  “Will my child have a seizure?” “Does my child need antibiotics?” “If I use ibuprofen or acetaminophen will that mask a serious illness?”

First of all, let me reassure you, it’s a great time to be a child. Modern vaccine advances have led to staggering protection from previously deadly and debilitating illnesses. For a healthy, vaccinated child the chances that a fever represents a life-threatening illness are much, much lower than years ago.

How a fever works

Fever is a healthy child’s normal response to an infection. By raising the body’s temperature, fever helps activate certain enzymes needed to fight infection and may also have some direct effect in killing the causative virus or bacteria.

However, a healthy child’s temperature will not just continue to rise unabated. The body has a very sophisticated thermostat, much like that in your house.  The upper limit of the body’s thermostat is around 106.  So even if your child’s temperature seems to be climbing (101… 102…103…104) it will not continue at that pace until your child spontaneously combusts.  The healthy brain will tell the body not to take the temperature over 106 and no brain damage will occur at temperatures of 106 and below.

Likewise, seizures are not a direct result of a high fever.  There is a phenomenon in children called a “febrile seizure.”  However, these seizures result from a rapid rise in fever that typically occurs even before the parents know the child is ill.  These seizures are usually benign and never cause any long -term problems.

When to see a doctor

Although I always advocate that parents should trust their parental instincts and seek care when they are concerned, below is some additional guidance.

See a doctor when:

1. The fever associated is with other symptoms such as: trouble breathing, abdominal pains, persistent vomiting, sore throat, severe headache, neck pains, extreme body aches, or rash.
2. A fever lasts for more than two days since hard- to-detect infections such as urinary tract infections can be the cause of fever particularly in children less than 2 years old.
3. Any fever (defined as more than 100.4 on rectal temp) occurs in a child less than 3 months old.
4. A fever occurs in children with other serious medical problems or immune deficiencies.

Dr. Courtney Mann is an emergency physician at WakeMed Health & Hospitals.

The adventure of learning to stand, walk, and reach that shiny object way on the top shelf can prove irresistible. But these adventures can be dangerous and even downright deadly if the proper precautions are not taken.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that between 2000 and 2010 there were at least 245 deaths related to tip-overs of furniture, televisions or appliances among children ages 8 years and under. Most of these deaths, 90 percent of them, involved children younger than age 6. In 2011, the CPSC identified this issue as one of the top hidden home hazards.

Kids can be seriously injured or killed as a result of climbing onto, falling against or pulling themselves up on shelves, bookcases, dressers, TV tables, and other furniture.

Here are some tips for keeping your home safe:

• Fasten top-heavy or unstable furniture to a wall using brackets, screws or wall straps.
• Keep heavier items on lower shelves or in lower drawers.
• Don’t keep remote controls, candy or other tempting items on unstable stands or tables.
• Teach children not to climb or jump on furniture.
• Push the television as far back as possible from the front of its stand.

Kids are also in danger of suffocation if they become accidentally trapped in a cabinet, toy chest or laundry machine. In 2007 alone, there were 3,270 injuries to children ages 2 to 14 involving toy chests. Always supervise children around any confined space and keep the doors closed and locked.

Toy chests that meet voluntary standards set by the CPSC are equipped with lid supports that hold the lid open in any position. The standards also call for ventilation holes to prevent suffocation. If you have a toy chest with a lid that doesn’t stay open, the CPSC recommends you remove the lid or install a spring-loaded lid support.

Safe Kids Wake County works to prevent unintentional childhood injury, the leading cause of death and disability to children ages 1 to 14. Safe Kids Wake County is a member of Safe Kids Worldwide, a global network of organizations dedicated to preventing unintentional injury. Safe Kids Wake County was founded in 1996 and is led by WakeMed Health & Hospitals.

For more information about home safety, call 919-350-8364 or visit www.safekids.org.

Siobhan Davis is the WakeMed Injury Prevention Representative and Safe Kids Wake County Coordinator.

And, if you’re the parent in charge of snacks, it’s important to bring something that will keep all the kids moving!

Here’s a list of go-to snacks that will surely be team-pleasers. Be sure to offer at least two options – a carb and a protein.

• Low-fat cheese, string cheese
• Greek yogurt
• Apples, bananas, pears, oranges (fresh or dried)
• Carrots, sugar snap peas, cucumbers
• Hummus and pita
• Trail mix (be aware of nut allergies)
• Plain popcorn, pretzels, baked chips
• Granola bars (watch the sugar and fat)
• Almond butter or peanut butter mini-sandwiches (again, be allergy aware)
• WATER

With all of the on-the-go packaging available these days, providing these healthy options is not only good for them – it’s easy to keep stocked! If you’re feeding the team, going to membership stores (Costco, Sam’s, BJs) is a great place to find favorite snacks in bulk at great prices.

Julie Paul is a program coordinator with WakeMed Children’s Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Unfortunately, car seat technicians are not allowed to answer this popular question with a product name or model, because we are prohibited from saying one seat is better than the other implying endorsement.

Our biggest concern is that you have a car seat you can use correctly 100 percent of the time. 

All seats sold on today’s market are tested to provide your baby with a safe ride within the confines of our government’s standards, so the best way to select a seat for you and your baby is to answer the following questions:

• Can I use the seat correctly?
• Can I install it correctly?
• Are the directions easy to follow?
• Does it have the features that I want?  e.g. the straps are easy to secure around my child.
• Will my child be comfortable in this seat?
• Will the seat fit in my car?
• Is the seat expired?
• If I get the seat from a friend or someone else, do I know the history of the seat?
• Has the seat been involved in a crash? (If so, do not use it.)
• Will my child outgrow the seat too quickly?
• Can I afford the seat?
• Does my baby cry every time I place her/him in the seat?  (If so, your child may be uncomfortable and you may want to consider replacing the seat.)
• Has the car seat recalled?

If you are comfortable with the answers to these questions, then you are probably moving in the right direction selecting a car seat for your baby.

Rosy Rosenthal is a certified car seat specialist and works with WakeMed Campus Police.

All pediatric liquid acetaminophen for infant and children will be 160 milligrams per 5ml (or one teaspoon).  The hope is the single liquid concentration product will reduce dosing errors and create less confusion for parents and caregivers.

Acetaminophen, which is available both generically and under the brand name Tylenol, is a medication used to reduce fever and control pain.  Historically, it has been available as infant drops, 80milligram per 0.8ml, and for children 2 years and older as a liquid, 160milligrams per 5ml (or one teaspoon). 

Acetaminophen is generally safe when given in reasonable doses, however, each year children are treated at WakeMed Children’s Hospital for acetaminophen overdoses.   An overdose has the potential to cause liver toxicity and liver damage if taken over a long period of time or given at too high of a dose.    

The reason for changing to a single concentration is to help reduce and prevent medication errors.  The change was voluntarily agreed upon by the over-the-counter manufacturers.   Therefore, for a period of time both the concentrations will continue to be available in retail stores.   Parents and caregivers should be aware of the various products and to only use the dosing recommendations included with the purchased product.  

The new infant 160milligram per 5ml (or one teaspoon) product will now come with a dosing syringe rather than a dropper and for children the liquid acetaminophen will come with a dosing cup to assist with measuring doses.   Always contact a healthcare provider such as your pharmacist, nurse or physician if unsure of the appropriate dose.      

It is critically important for parents to fully understand any medication they are giving to their children and that they communicate clearly with their pharmacist or physician as to how much to administer and how often.  This way both caregiver and baby will feel better.

Interested in learning more about the change? 

otcsafety.org

NC Poison Center

Tylenol.com

Rhonda Zillmer is a WakeMed pediatric pharmacist.