5 ways to preserve your teeth as you age

<div class="cnn_stryimg640captioned"><img alt="Aging is inevitable, but tooth loss doesn't have to be. Here are some ways to keep your teeth healthy." border="0" height="360" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130329164247-dental-chair-implements-story-top.jpg" width="640" /></div><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption"><div class="cnn_strycaptiontxt">Aging is inevitable, but tooth loss doesn't have to be. Here are some ways to keep your teeth healthy.</div></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="em0"></a><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><div><strong> </strong></div><div><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></div><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><li>Regular checkups can be an important part of preserving your teeth</li><li>Wear a night guard if you grind or clench your teeth while sleeping</li><li>Know what dental products are right for you</li></ul></div></div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt adtag15090"> </div><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- For all intents and purposes, we really get only one shot to take care of our teeth.<br /> <div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">The good news is, science and research have taken a front seat in dental education, making today's dentist savvy on "prevention" dentistry rather than the "drill, fill and bill" mentality of decades ago.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Things like adhesive dentistry, recalcification and dental implants have given dentists more options. But for many patients, it's a lot of information to process.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Here are five ways you can ensure that you hang on to your teeth as you age:</div><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg300"><div class="cnn_strylccimg300cntr"><img alt="Dr. Michael Apa" border="0" class="box-image" height="169" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/131209092728-michael-apa-story-body.jpg" width="300" /></div><div>Dr. Michael Apa</div></div></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"><strong>Educate yourself on dental care</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Dentistry today has taken a much more conservative approach. But it can be hard to know what your options are. Here are some key points that you should know about dental treatment.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">• Small cavities can be recalcified. Strong doses of fluoride, or something called MI Paste, applied directly to small cavities can actually recalcify or rebuild the enamel, removing the need for a filling.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/29/health/dentist-5-things/index.html">5 things to do at the dentist's office</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">That said, the key to recalcification is early detection. Regular dental visits and staying on top of your annual X-rays are crucial to early detection.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">• Fillings, crowns or any dental restoration should be replaced or heavily scrutinized every eight years, as recommended by the American Dental Association.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">Some patients are of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" era. But the reasoning behind this advice is to eliminate the spread of recurrent cavities that lurk under dental restorations.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">The longer you wait to replace dental restorations, the more problems you can run into. If the decay spreads undetected, it may eat up too much healthy tooth structure and need the support of a crown or reach the nerve and need a root canal.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">• Make sure your children are getting fluoride treatments until at least the age of 15. Kids, especially, consume a lot of sugar, which breaks down into a biproduct of acid that erodes teeth, quickly causing cavities. Fluoride is a great treatment in rebuilding enamel and neutralizing those acids.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"><strong>Us</strong><strong>e</strong><strong> an electric toothbrush</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">In dentistry, the electric toothbrush has been one of the biggest advances in home dental care. Ninety-nine percent of patients don't really know how to brush with a manual brush and, more important, don't brush for the full two minutes needed.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/16/health/dental-screening/index.html">The dental screening that could save your life</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Electric toothbrushes remove the confusion and have a timer to ensure that the full brushing is done at each session. Improper brushing can lead to plaque buildup, swollen gums, cavities and overall poor oral health. The sonic brushes remove plaque and get into hard-to-reach places like in between teeth and under the gums to ensure a healthy mouth.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18"><strong>If you grind or clench, wear a nigh</strong><strong>t</strong><strong> guard</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">Grinders can wear away a millimeter of tooth structure per year if undiagnosed. Clenchers may not see any immediate signs of wear on their teeth, but the pressure that clenching puts on your teeth is destructive. It slowly breaks down the supporting bone around the teeth, leading to gum recession, bone loss and inevitably tooth loss.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">If you feel that you may fall into either of these categories, you should be wearing a night guard. It may not be sexy, but it's much sexier than missing teeth.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21"><strong>Know what oral hygiene regimen is right for you</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Today, there has been a lot of money and research into better oral care products. But understand that there is an actual regimen of toothpaste, mouth rinse and "extra-care" products that's right for you.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The first step is defining what "type" of patient you are. I like to break it down into four basic types: cavity-prone, sensitive, stainers and those with bad gums.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/28/health/baby-dental-health/index.html">Baby's teeth: What you should know</a></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">You can ask your dentist which category you fall into. Each product in the sea of dental products in the drugstore has key ingredients tailored for each category of patient. Using the right oral care products can make a big difference in the longevity of your teeth.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26"><strong>Choose the right dentist</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">Fortunately -- or unfortunately -- your dentist has a lot to do with the preservation of your teeth. Make sure your dentist is up on all current research and his office is updated and state-of-the-art, but most important, make sure your dentist is taking time and looking after you. It sounds simple, but it's probably the most important item on your checklist.</div>

5 ways to preserve your teeth as you age

Aging is inevitable, but tooth loss doesn't have to be. Here are some ways to keep your teeth healthy.   STORY HIGHLIGHTS Regular checku...

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Olive Garden Adds Burger in Challenge to Chili's

<div class="cover-wrap" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386009445949_1311"> <div class="" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386009445949_1310"> <div class="img-wrap" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386009445949_1309"> <figure class=" cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox " data-id="7b74b7a0-5b68-11e3-875f-afa1bbd5d541" id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386009445949_1308"> <div class="img-wrap-16x9"> <img alt="Olive Garden burger" height="421px" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/W0xWxIkQV9Px5DWn6BqWRA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03NDk-/http://l.yimg.com/os/publish-images/finance/2013-12-02/b24328c7-62d6-4c87-acad-8fa69ecdb351_idhrTxKqY3Gw.jpg" width="749px" /> </div><div class="cta-overlay"><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow">.</span><div class="cta-text large">View gallery</div></div></figure> <div class="caption">The burger by Darden Restaurants Inc.'s Olive Garden is topped with mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula, pesto tomatoes and aioli spread. (Source: Darden Restaurants Inc.)</div></div></div></div><div class="yom-ad yom-ad-LREC" id="yom-ad-LREC" style="visibility: inherit;"><center></center></div><a data-mce-href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/olive-garden/?cmpid=yhoo.hlinks" data-rapid_p="8" href="http://topics.bloomberg.com/olive-garden/?cmpid=yhoo.hlinks">Olive Garden</a> is beefing up its menu -- literally.<br /><div class="body-slot-mod"><div class="yom-remote"><div class="" id="mediacontentrelatedstory_container"> <section class="yom-mod " data-ylk="mid:mediacontentrelatedstory;mpos:1;elm:hdln;elmt:ct;cat:Related Stories;rspns:nav;t1:a3;itc:0;sec:lst-ct;" id="mediacontentrelatedstory"> </section> </div></div></div>Today the Italian chain will start serving a $9.99 six-ounce burger to better compete with fast-casual and other sit-down dining chains. Owned by Darden Restaurants Inc. (<a data-mce-href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DRI&ql=1" data-rapid_p="9" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DRI&ql=1" target="_blank">DRI</a>), Olive Garden has been refining its menu as it struggles to attract Americans amid fierce competition in the aftermath of the economic downturn.<br />Darden Chief Executive Officer Clarence Otis has been advertising three-course meals aimed at budget-conscious diners and small plates to lure the young, bar-hopping crowd. The chain's same-store sales dropped 4 percent in the three months ended Aug. 25, and, in October, hedge fund Barington Capital Group LP took a 2.8 percent stake and began pushing for changes.<br />Olive Garden conducted research to figure out which competitors were picking up the diners it was losing, said Jim Nuetzi, executive chef at the 820-store chain. "A lot of times we were losing them to a burger craving."<br />Competitors have been selling and refining burgers for years. Chili's, the eatery owned by Brinker International Inc. (<a data-mce-href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EAT&ql=1" data-rapid_p="10" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=EAT&ql=1" target="_blank">EAT</a>), sells bacon, guacamole and mini burgers with sauteed onions. DineEquity Inc.'s (<a data-mce-href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DIN&ql=1" data-rapid_p="11" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=DIN&ql=1" target="_blank">DIN</a>) Applebee's restaurants have quesadilla burgers and a bourbon black and bleu burger slathered with spicy mayo.<br />Olive Garden's menu got too expensive and they didn't remodel stores fast enough, said Peter Saleh, a New York-based analyst at Telsey Advisory Group.<br /><strong>McDonald's Pasta</strong><br />He said the chain needs more than one burger to boost sales and isn't convinced it fits Olive Garden's Italian roots.<br />"It would be the same as McDonald's trying to do some sort of pasta meal," he said. "I'm not seeing it."<br />Neither were executives at Olive Garden, at first.<br />"There was hefty debate" and some couldn't imagine what an Italian burger would look or taste like, said Nuetzi. Others were worried that arugula wouldn't appeal to Olive Garden diners, most of whom are better acquainted with iceberg lettuce. Nuetzi convinced the opposition by cooking an Italian-style burger for them to try.<br />Nuetzi, 41, has been cooking since he was 14 years old -- first dishing up pizzas at an Italian eatery in Atlanta. He started at Capital Grille in 1998, now owned by Darden, and moved to Olive Garden last year. One of his first moves has been creating the Italiano burger, something that came naturally as he's also behind Capital Grille's signature burger with pureed bacon and onion mixed into the beef. Olive Garden's burger is topped with mozzarella, prosciutto, arugula, pesto tomatoes and aioli spread.<br /><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1386009445949_1358"><strong>Messy Tomatoes</strong></div>The burger was tested twice earlier this year. Nuetzi tweaked it after diners weighed in -- doubling the aioli spread, slicing the tomatoes instead of dicing them into small pieces because they fell out of the bun and made a mess. Perhaps the biggest change: French fries.<br />All Olive Garden sandwiches used to be served a la carte. Starting next month, they'll be paired with Parmesan garlic fries.<br />"It just became obvious," Nuetzi said. "You've got to serve a burger with fries."<br />Through Nov. 29, Darden shares had <a class="web_ticker" data-mce-href="/quote/DRI:US" data-rapid_p="12" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DRI:US" title="Get Quote">gained</a> 18 percent this year, while Brinker jumped 52 percent and DineEquity advanced 26 percent.<br /><br />

Olive Garden Adds Burger in Challenge to Chili's

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Insurers Seek to Bypass Health Site

<div class="cover-wrap"> <div class=""> <div class="img-wrap"> <figure class=" cover get-lbdata-from-dom go-to-slideshow-lightbox " data-id="368d91ae-fa7d-341c-aa28-74f55125c20d"> <div class="img-wrap-16x9"> <img alt="A man looks over the Affordable Care Act signup page on the HealthCare.gov website in New York in this photo illustration" height="421px" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/QYyAMmkrQW_zHepxeQsTxw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMTtweG9mZj01MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03NDk-/http://globalfinance.zenfs.com/images/US_AHTTP_REUTERS_OLUSTECH_WRAPPER_H_LIVE_NEW/2013-11-28T061227Z_2_CBRE9AR0H7Y00_RTROPTP_3_USA-HEALTHCARE-TECHNOLOGY_original.jpg" width="749px" /> </div><div class="cta-overlay"><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow">.</span></div></figure></div></div></div>WASHINGTON—Insurers and some states are continuing to look for ways to bypass the balky technology underpinning the health-care law despite the Obama administration's claim Sunday that it had made "dramatic progress" in fixing the federal insurance website.<br />Federal officials said they had largely succeeded in repairing parts of the site that had most snarled users in the two months since its troubled launch, but acknowledged they only had begun to make headway on the biggest underlying problems: the system's ability to verify users' identities and accurately transmit enrollment data to insurers.<br />One of the leading states operating its own exchange is considering ways to decouple itself from the federal infrastructure it relies on to confirm residents' eligibility for federal tax credits. That technology has been affected by planned and unplanned outages.<br />James Wadleigh, chief information officer of Connecticut's exchange, said he was looking at having a new vendor support identity verification in addition to the federal vendor. He also said he wanted to be able to tap state databases, such as the labor department's, to validate incomes and was seeking a way to prove people were legal residents without depending on U.S. data.<br />Mr. Wadleigh said he wants Connecticut to be self-reliant and serve its residents even when the federal government has to take down parts of its technology for maintenance. Some other states are watching his effort.<br />A spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency implementing the health law, said the federal data hub continued to work well and has done so consistently since Oct. 1.<br />Insurers also are telling the administration they want more help to work around the federal system so they can enroll many customers directly.<br />The U.S. has begun a pilot program with insurers in three big states—Florida, Ohio and Texas—to identify problems in the current system, in which insurance companies still have to send would-be customers briefly to the HealthCare.gov site to verify their eligibility for financial assistance, where many have become stuck. The government describes the direct-signup effort as a way to give consumers more choice in gaining coverage.<br /><div class="body-related "><a class="body-related-link body-related-image landscape get-lbdata-from-dom onesize go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp" data-rapid_p="9" data-type="image" data-uuid="853aed41-db41-33eb-9fcd-c89abec15d1b" href="http://finance.yahoo.com/photos/file-aug-1-2012-file-photo-jeffrey-zients-photo-093359100--politics.html" title="FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2012 file photo, Jeffrey Zients …"><div class="img-wrap"><div class="cta-overlay"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium"></span><span class="cta-text xsmall">View gallery</span><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow-xsmall">."</span></div><img alt="FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2012 file photo, Jeffrey Zients …" class="body-related-thumb" height="243px" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/S8Hg.6ygu9p.aa8CW7OHng--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTI0MztxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/9ff3103f18cb4924410f6a7067006ed6.jpg" title="" width="300px" /></div></a><div class="body-related-title photo-caption" style="width: 300px;">FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2012 file photo, Jeffrey Zients testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Pres …</div></div>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also is trying to develop a formula that could be used by the administration's call centers and other enrollment workers to calculate the value of tax credits for some people with straightforward circumstances, to relieve pressure on the website, said people familiar with the effort.<br />On Sunday, as a Nov. 30 deadline set by the administration for improvements to the site had passed, CMS issued a report concluding: "We believe we have met the goal of having a system that will work smoothly for the vast majority of users."<br />Jeffrey Zients, the top administration aide charged with overseeing the effort, told reporters: "The site is now stable and operating at its intended capacity with greatly improved performance."<br />Two of the main achievements the administration cited—getting HealthCare.gov's response time below one second and reducing the rate at which pages loaded incorrectly to fewer than 1% of the time—had been announced more than a week ago.<br />The administration also said it had improved the site's stability and had hit its goal of getting the site's capacity to a point where it can handle 50,000 users simultaneously. The administration plans to queue users if that 50,000 capacity is exceeded, generating an email to those users when the site is available again.<br />Officials expect user volumes to jump in December—ahead of a year-end deadline to register for coverage beginning Jan. 1—and that such volume could exceed the site's current capacity. Millions of Americans are either uninsured or set to lose current insurance and must enroll in a new plan by Dec. 23 to have insurance on Jan. 1. Consumers in 36 states that aren't running their own exchanges must sign up using HealthCare.gov, a federal call center or via a paper application.<br />The administration's claims of "dramatic progress" were met with some reservation by lawmakers on Sunday, with Democrats suggesting improvement but stopping short of saying the problems had been solved.<br />"The administration has met the big benchmarks they set out, 50,000 [people on the site] at one time, 800,000 people a day. Look, this is going to take some time before its up and kicking in full gear," Rep. Chris Van Hollen, (D., Md.), said Sunday on NBC.<br />Republican lawmakers criticized the rollout of the program. "We all get calls from incredibly distressed citizens who've had their policies canceled, and yet are unable to enroll in a new plan. So I do hope that the efficacy of this is much better today and will improve," said Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) on CBS.<br />A person familiar with the government's repair work said the site was showing greater signs of stability after weekend upgrades. As of early Sunday evening, the site had allowed more than 300,000 people to log in and do business on the site that day, said the person. The number of people using the site was higher as the login count doesn't include people just browsing.<br />After weeks of worry, the mood in the "war room" where the repair work is ongoing was "good and upbeat" and technicians ended Saturday night with a group high-five, the person said.<br />Still, such fixes are aimed at making the site look and work better for users, but generally don't address and may even exacerbate problems deeper in the system. Officials signaled Sunday that work was only just starting to address some of the identity-verification issues as well as enrollment data.<br />Julie Bataille, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said work is ongoing and also included efforts to fix a problem preventing customers from retrieving forgotten passwords. She said "it may take several days for consumers to see the results of the improvement." The next steps will be to assist the backlog of users who encountered early problems, she said.<br />The top lobbyist for the insurance industry said over the weekend the administration hadn't yet been able to guarantee accurate enrollment data was coming out of the site, making it more important for insurers to be able to easily sign up customers themselves. Big insurers want to steer as many consumers as possible to their plans, rather than see them comparison-shop on the federal site.<br />"In addition to fixing the technical problems with HealthCare.gov, the significant 'back-end' issues must also be resolved to ensure that coverage can begin on January 1, 2014," said Karen Ignagni, the head of the lobby, America's Health Insurance Plans.<br />Write to Louise Radnofsky at louise.radnofsky@wsj.com, Amy Schatz at Amy.Schatz@wsj.com and Spencer E. Ante at spencer.ante@wsj.com<br /><br />

Insurers Seek to Bypass Health Site

. WASHINGTON—Insu...

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6 Things You Didn't Know About Gray Hair

<span class="yom-figure yom-fig-left" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 190px;"><img height="190" id="2717868" name="2717868" src="http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/upJSCJWnoUBa9QfOVG31Qg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTE5MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/470_2717868.jpg" title="What you didn&#39;t know about gray hair. " width="190" /><span class="legend">What you didn't know about gray hair. </span></span><br /><div class="first"> While some women proudly sport a silver mane, most of us face the arrival of new gray hairs with dread. The good news: Scientists are hard at work on how to prevent the salt-and-pepper look. So what do researchers know that you don't?</div><strong><br /> 1. Normal aging is the biggest culprit.</strong> <br /> Okay, no surprise here. Dermatologists call this the 50-50-50 rule. "Fifty percent of the population has about 50 percent gray hair at age 50," says Dr. Anthony Oro, professor of dermatology at Stanford University. And like skin, hair changes its texture with age, says Dr. Heather Woolery Lloyd, director of ethnic skin care at the University of Miami School of Medicine.<br /> <strong><br /> Related:</strong> <a data-rapid_p="1" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/hair-care-tips?link=hair-care-tips&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_gh&mag=ghk" rel="nofollow"><strong>9 Ways Your Hair is Aging Your Look</strong></a><br /> <strong><br /> 2. Your ethnicity makes a difference.</strong> <br /> Caucasians tend to go gray earlier - and redheads earliest of all. Then Asians. Then African-Americans. Scientists haven't figured out why yet.<br /> <strong><br /> 3. Stress seems to play a role.</strong> <br /> "Stress won't cause you to go gray directly," says Dr. Roopal Kundu, associate professor in dermatology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine. "But stress is implicated in a lot of skin and hair issues." During an illness, for example, people can shed hair rapidly. And hair you lose after a stressful event - like getting chemotherapy - may grow back a different color.<br /> <strong><br /> Related:</strong> <a data-rapid_p="2" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/beauty/hair/look-younger-haircuts?link=look-younger-hair&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_gh&mag=ghk" rel="nofollow"><strong>Haircuts That Take Off 10 Years</strong></a><br /> <strong><br /> 4. Your lifestyle makes a difference.</strong> <br /> Smoking, for example, stresses your skin and hair. "Low vitamin B12 levels are notorious for causing loss of hair pigment," says Dr. Karthik Krishnamurthy, director of the Dermatology Center's Cosmetic Clinic at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y. By contrast, eating foods such as liver and carrots may be helpful for holding off going gray, says Dr. Wilma Bergfeld, a senior dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic.<br /> <strong><br /> 5. Hair and its color are separate things.</strong> <br /> Hair stem cells make hair, and pigment-forming stem cells make pigment. Typically they work together, but either can wear out, sometimes prematurely. Researchers are trying to figure out if a medicine, or something you could put in your scalp, could slow the graying process. (Hair dye simply coats your hair in color but doesn't alter its structure.)<br /> <strong><br /> 6. Your hair doesn't turn gray - it grows that way.</strong> <br /> A single hair grows for one to three years, then you shed it - and grow a new one. As you age, your new hairs are more likely to be white. "Every time the hair regenerates, you have to re-form these pigment-forming cells, and they wear out," says Oro.<br /><br />

6 Things You Didn't Know About Gray Hair

What you didn't know about gray hair. While some women proudly sport a silver mane, most of us face the arrival of new...

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The Biggest Mistakes You Make Using Your Fridge

<div class="yom-mod yom-art-hd" id="mediabloghead"><div class="bd" id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_400"><span class="yom-figure yom-fig-left" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; width: 190px;"><img height="190" id="2717048" name="2717048" src="http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/ZA7ZyVo6a_OQKPy52se2OA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTE5MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/partner/470_2717048.jpg" title="Pack your fridge properly to help food stay fresher longer." width="190" /><span class="legend">Pack your fridge properly to help food stay fresher longer.</span></span><h1 class="headline" id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_399"><br /></h1><cite class="byline vcard"></cite>Does your milk smell like onions? Your lettuce go limp in a week? What about cold cuts? Are you throwing them out before you get a chance to make sandwiches? Avoid the mistakes below and you may find you're wasting less food. </div></div><ul id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_353"><li> <b>Storing milk and dairy on the door</b> As temperatures are highest on the door, keeping your milk, yogurt, and butter there can shorten their "shelf life". Better to keep them on refrigerator shelves. </li><li id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_352"> <b>Not keeping meat in the meat drawer</b> On most models, this compartment, called the meat drawer or deli locker, is designed to keep foods colder than the rest of the refrigerator, making it an ideal spot for storing raw meat or poultry, cold cuts, or anything that spoils quickly like the smoked salmon, shrimp, or caviar you may splurge on during the holidays. Many of these drawers have various settings -- choose the coldest one,and it may even keep <i>y</i>our chicken and <span class="yshortcuts cs4-ndcor" id="lw_1385830674249_7">hamburger meat</span> slightly below freezing so they'll stay fresh <i>significantly</i> longer. Remember to keep meat, poultry, and fish in containers or bags so their juices can't leak out and contaminate other foods in the locker. </li></ul><div class="first"> <br /><b>Related:</b> <a data-rapid_p="1" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/organizing-mistakes?link=rel&dom=yah_life&src=syn&mag=ghk" rel="nofollow" target="" title=""><b>10 Biggest Organizing Mistakes You Don't Realize You're Making</b></a></div><ul id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_363"><li id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_362"> <b>Failing to clean the condenser coils</b> If you notice that your <span class="yshortcuts cs4-ndcor" id="lw_1385830674249_9">fridge temperatures</span> seem to be rising, it could be because you need to clean the coils. This easy-to-do task should be done several times a year and even more often if you have dogs or cats that shed. Unplug the unit, snap off the grate, then use an inexpensive coil-cleaning brush, which you can find at hardware stores, or your vacuum's crevice tool. You may even see a drop in your electric bill as your unit will operate more efficiently. </li><li> <b>Not wrapping foods tightly before freezing them</b> You can use zipper-top freezer bags, aluminum foil, or heavy-duty plastic wrap but whichever you opt for make sure to remove all the air by smoothing it around the food. If you're using storage containers, fill them almost to the top so you'll protect leftovers from burn but give the food enough room to expand as it freezes. </li><li id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_403"> <b>Not stashing fruits and vegetables in the crispers</b> They're called crispers for a reason. Keep your Boston lettuce and your broccoli in one of your fridge's produce drawers with the humidity level set to high and you may be surprised at how long they stay sprightly. Use one crisper for veggies, the other for fruit with the humidity levels at low. By keeping a half an onion in a produce drawer, wrapped up in plastic of course, you'll help keep it from flavoring your milk. </li></ul><div id="yui_3_9_1_10_1386002850160_397"> In the market for a new fridge? See our <a data-rapid_p="2" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-reviews/appliances/refrigerator-reviews?link=refrigerator-reviews&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_gh&mag=ghk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Refrigerator Reviews ">refrigerator reviews</a> to find the best model for you. Also check out our tips on <a data-rapid_p="3" href="http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/cooking-tips/toss-it-out-dec06?link=refrigerator-tips&dom=yah_life&src=syn&con=blog_gh&mag=ghk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" title="Food storage">how long to keep food</a> before tossing it out. </div><br />

The Biggest Mistakes You Make Using Your Fridge

Pack your fridge properly to help food stay fresher longer. Does your milk smell like onions? Your lettuce go limp in a week? What about c...

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