According to a CDC report, Americans are still not eating recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables and no state has reached national target consumption rates.

The report found that seniors, however, eat more fruit and vegetables than do 18 to 24 year olds. College graduates were more likely to eat more of both fruit and vegetables than those with less education and people earning more than 50K per year had higher fruit and vegetable consumption than those earning less.

A diet high in fruit and vegetables has been linked to a lower incidence of chronic disease. Fruit and vegetables also help keep weight down because they have fewer calories by volume than processed foods.

To protect your health and help maintain a healthy weight, the CDC recommends that adults consume 2 cups of fruit per day and a 1 cup serving of vegetables three times a day. The government calls this the “5 a Day” plan.

More information can be found at:

5 A Day
CDC website

The advisory panel of the CDC has announced it will recommend a routine shingles vaccine for all Americans at age 60.

If you’ve ever had chickenpox, you have a 20% chance of developing shingles in later life. A person who lives to be 85 has a 50% chance of getting shingles.

Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus, which can lie dormant for years after taking refuge in nerve cells, is reactivated and travels down nerve cell fibers to cause a renewed infection. Shingles erupts in a rash of pustules just like chickenpox, but because the nervous system is now involved, is far more painful.

In some cases the patient may develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) - a condition characterized by unrelenting pain, caused by damage to the nervous system.

The new vaccine Zostavax has been shown to be more than 60% effective in reducing shingles symptoms.

Read more about the vaccine and shingles at WebMD.