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How to control cravings for chocolate

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Chocolate holds a powerful allure for so many of us, robbing us of the best of intentions to cut calories and control our weight.  So how do we control cravings?Far more common in women (97%) than men (68%), that longing for the rich, creamy flavor or dense, calorie-packed food and all the feelings that go with them is something so many of us understand.

However, recent research by British scientists at the University of Exeter shows that a brisk 15-minute bit of exercise can halt that craving in its tracks.

We’ve all been there at one time or another.

And we’ve all had our self esteem sabotaged as we tell ourselves our cravings are lack of willpower, when in truth they’re biological signals from the body.

When we’re overtired or unhappy, we have low blood sugar and/or low serotonin, the body tells the brain it needs a pick-me-up and it is this that signals the start of a sugar or carbohydrate craving.

One of the worst things about cravings comes when these impulses take hold… and derail serious weight loss efforts or undermine our efforts to overcome eating disorders.

The study authors provided background information on what we already know about cravings - giving in to these irresistible urges leads to bouts of unhealthy eating sure to sabotage weight management efforts.

The study appears in the latest issue of the journal Appetite, and the authors are hoping their work leads to better strategies for cutting cravings before they take hold and take over.

Interestingly, good, healthy habits, and reduction in weight and increased fitness levels have been shown to come with even small changes in what you eat and how active you are each day.

The study leaders, Adrian Taylor and Anita Oliver of the University of Exeter conducted their work on 25 subjects they describe as “regular chocolate eaters” - those who ate (at least) two 50-gram bars of chocolate a day.

The chocolate lovers were deprived of their beloved treat for three days, and told not to exercise or have caffeine for two hours before the test period.

During the test, blood pressure and heart rate were monitored, and subjects completed food-craving questionnaires.

While one group sat quietly, a separate group of subjects was asked to walk on a treadmill for 15 minutes - a rigorous walk without getting out of breath. The way you might walk if you’re trying to catch a bus.

Both groups them completed a computerized test and were allowed to handle, though not to taste, an unwrapped piece of chocolate. Now that’s craving… up close and personal.

By depriving subjects of what they crave, putting them under stress (the computerized test) and then exposing them to chocolate, the researchers were intentionally trying to ignite chocolate cravings.

What they learned was that the group who walked had a significant reduction in their cravings when compared to baseline measurements.

What’s more, the brisk walk eased blood pressure after the test and when handling the unwrapped chocolate. But being sedentary appeared to have no impact on cravings.

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Certified Nutritionist and Personal Trainer comes clean…

We all know sessions with a Personal Trainer and visits to a Health Advisor costs an ‘arm and a leg’…

Thankfully Mike Geary (a Certified Nutrition Specialist and Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) has blown the lid off the ‘Professional’ health industry and released a no-cost “no-gimick” report which reveals an explosive truth about fat loss…

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Craving Chocolate? Take A Brisk Walk Before You Indulge continued

If you can’t be active, you might try some healthy foods to supply the nutrients your body is craving.

For example, if you’re stuggling to control cravings for chocolate, what your body truly needs, according to naturopathic physicians, is magnesium that you can get by eating healthy food like raw nuts and seeds, legumes and fruits.

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5 foods to help you get a flat belly

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Want to transform your body and get a flat belly?

There are foods, five of them in fact, that are chock full of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs, pronounced MOO-fahs) that have long been credited with protecting you from chronic disease.

While these foods have been prized for centuries for their healthy properties, new research shows that these types of foods, can help you lose fat especially around your mid section if part of a sensible diet.

Trimming your middle not only improves your look, and the fit of your clothing; it can also have significant health benefits - reducing risks of heart disease for one. And while we’ve all seen the subcutaneous fat (outer fat) that makes it hard to get into your jeans, it’s the unseen visceral fat deep inside your body around internal organs, that is so dangerous.

Even small amounts of this type of fat can increase your heart disease risk, as well as upping your cholesterol and risk of high blood pressure.

Even if you aren’t following a diet, you can substitute one of these good-for-you-foods to what you’re eating today to give yourself some health benefits.

Substitute any of these five foods at every meal will help you manage dangerous belly fat… plus cut unnecessary calories so that you are likely to lose both inches and pounds.

There are five categories of monounsaturated fatty acids, or MUFAs:

1) OILS: One tablespoon of canola oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil, peanut oil, pesto sauce, safflower oil, sesame oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil or walnut oil can be used in cooking, as a dressing or addition to a dish, in a marinade or as a salad dressing.

2) NUTS AND SEEDS: Two tablespoons of almonds, almond butter, Brazil nuts, cashew butter, chunky natural peanut butter, dry-roasted cashews, dry-roasted peanuts, dry-roasted sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, roasted pumpkin seeds, smooth natural peanut butter, sunflower seeds, sunflower seed butter, tahini (sesame seed paste) or walnuts are delicious as snacks, or as additions to a salad, as a topping for meats or to add body to soups and sauces.

3) AVOCADO: One quarter cup Florida or Hass avocadoes can be sliced and served with a salad or entrée, or made into a dip that is delicious with chips.

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Doctor breaks rank, revealing shocking proof

The real reason you can’t lose weight has nothing to do with your willpower, overeating or not eating the right diet.

It’s because your gut is full of plaque and parasites that work against you, stopping you from losing weight.

Now there is a way to flush these parasites and get rid of the plaque, allowing you to shed all those unwanted pounds quickly and easily.

Find out how Dr Suzanne Gudakunst has created a brand new program that will make you healthier, sexier, fitter and may even save your life!

Read the full report here

Transform Your Body (And Your Belly) With These Five Flat Belly Foods continued

4) OLIVES: Ten large black or green olives or two tablespoons of tapenade can be served as a snack, sprinkled on pizza, salad or pasta, spread on crackers or sandwiches - even used as stuffing for chicken or fish fillets.

5) CHOCOLATE: One quarter cup of dark chocolate chips, shavings or chunks can be a part of any sweet treat you love. Aim for a high percentage of cocoa for the most benefits.

To get the best benefit from these foods, just replace one or more of the foods with a less healthy option that is already part of your diet, and it could help you move closer to your dream and get a flat belly over time.

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the link between red meat and cancer plus other cancer risks

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Colorectal cancer, also known as bowel cancer, is becoming an all to common form of cancer both in the United States and throughout the world.According to World Health Organization (WHO) numbers, this form of cancer accounts for 655,000 deaths worldwide each year - the third most common form of cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the Western world.

A report issued by UK based World Center Research Fund last year suggested a link between red meat and cancer, and that eating processed meats like bacon or sausage every day ups your risk of bowel cancer by 63%.

Processed meat was one of the bad guys of the report, but others included diet and lifestyle choices (smoking and alcohol consumption to name a few) that could increase the risk of this type of cancer. The report also included evidence that tied extra weight to six different types of cancer.

Titled Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer, publicity over the contents generated a firestorm of controversy as some blasted the effort as “scare tactics”.

Experts defend the work; insisting that while factors like heredity and environment can’t be changed… some risk factors are within our power to control.

And so it seems, many of us may be doing just that.

In a recent online survey of 2,124 respondents, nearly a quarter claimed to have made changes, like eating more fruits and veggies, based on the media coverage of the report.

One in ten has tried to cut down on processed meats like bacon, and of those over 55 years old, 37% reported making changes that included eliminating processed meats from the diet.

Almost 18% of survey respondents were actively watching their weight based on concerns over cancer.

Other results of the survey found that two in five people were trying to be more active - working toward getting 30 minutes of exercise every day.

The good news, according to Richard Evans, head of communications for the World Cancer Research Fund, “This survey shows that if people are told how they can reduce their risk of cancer then many of them will make changes.”

Experts continue to believe that a diet high in animal fat and protein, and also low in fiber, can up the risk of developing cancer of the bowel.

Those who drink heavily (more than 2 alcoholic drinks per day for men; one drink a day for women) are likely also at increased risk of bowel cancer. Almost 9% of those surveyed were working to cut down on alcohol based on these types of health messages.

Of course smoking or chewing tobacco also increases your bowel cancer risk.

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There are so many “scare” stories that it’s sometimes hard to know what to believe. Which is why this is so timely…

Announcing the breakthrough solution by Chris Gibson, a respected natural health practitioner, that gets rid of moles, warts and skin tags without any expensive medical procedures or over-the-counter products.

Chris has written several books on alternative health and wellness and appeared on various TV channels like Fox 26 News and CBS.

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The Message About Reducing Cancer Risks Is Sinking In continued

The report recommendations for both physical activity and weight management that can help reduce your risk (not just to consider the link between red meat and cencer). You need to keep your weight under control. This isn’t to say underweight, but aim for a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18.5 and 25 to be considered in the healthy weight range.

As BMI moves over the 25 mark, your risk begins to increase. Also, be sure that you lead an active lifestyle, as there is strong, reliable evidence that this too can offer protective benefits to the body.

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fat hormone responsible for being overweight?

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

We all have something watching what we eat - And it’s inside us right now…

As we enjoy delicious meals… consuming loads of calorie-laden treats, a “fat hormone” produced in the small intestine will be flowing through our bloodstreams and registering on the brain the impact of all the fat that’s just been eaten.

At some point, it’s this naturally occurring substance that helps you register that you have eaten your fill.

Researchers are hoping that variations of this chemical messenger - known as N-acylphosphatidylethanolamines, or NAPEs for short - might somehow be used to control appetite and weight.

The experts believe that differences in how NAPEs are secreted in those who consume lots of high fat foods may in fact contribute to rising levels of obesity.

Science has long been working to understand how the body tells the brain to control what you eat.

With rising rates of obesity among both adults and children, researchers are anxious to unlock and understand this process.

Hormones like leptin, initially having shown promise, have proven disappointing when used in human trials. Many experts agree that the regulation of hunger and appetite is a very complex process that may not have one single solution.

However, there may have just been a significant step in the right direction to find a solution.

Rats and mice in a recent study, when fed a fatty meal, produced lots of NAPEs, but when eating meals heavy in protein or carbs, didn’t produce the molecule.

The researchers then synthesized and reinjected the rats with NAPEs and they ate less - for close to 12 hours or longer.

When smaller amounts of this substance were injected into the brain, it had the same effect on the rodent’s appetite. A larger dose, injected directly into the bloodstream also had the same effect on appetite.

NAPEs were also detected in the brain, concentrated in the area called the hypothalamus, well known to regulate hunger. This part of the brain has a high concentration of neurons that are involved in the regulation of food intake and was impacted by the NAPEs in the system.

Lastly, the rodents were given extra NAPEs for five days and they also ate less and lost weight.

“We’re excited but we have to be cautious,” said Dr. Gerald Shulman, senior author of a study in rats that’s published in the Nov. 26 issue of the journal Cell. Dr. Shulman is a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as a professor of internal medicine and cellular and molecular physiology at Yale University School of Medicine.

“We would love to be able to take this to man tomorrow because we need effective ways to treat obesity and, right now, we have very few agents that work effectively. But we have much work to do.”

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Sleep less BUT have more energy

Do you find there’s not enough hours in the day to do all you’d like…Do you wake up feeling groggy and fatigued?

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Fat Hormones Born In Our intestine May Hold Key To Fighting Obesity continued

A professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics from Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, David Earnest said, “The NAPEs work to suppress appetite or decrease food intake, [but] feeding is a complex behavior. There are a lot of factors that figure into eating disorders. The findings are very interesting and exciting, basically because we have identified these NAPEs which are synthesized by the gut and presumably can be used in supplementary fashion to treat obesity in humans.”

Translate this to more fat feeding studies on human subjects are needed, but this new research is an encouraging piece of the puzzle - but for the moment, will take years before any solutions related to the “fat hormone” hit the streets after sufficient testing has taken place.

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A secrets of longevity religious services make you like longer

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

New research shows that attending religious services… beyond bringing comfort and lending strength to many, may be a secret to longevity and actually prolong life.

The unusual finding is based on data supplied as part of the NIH funded Women’s Health Initiative and is published in Psychology and Health.

Science, much to our surprise (and delight) has delivered up absolute proof that older women who attend religious services on a regular basis cut their risk of death by 20%. Earlier studies had put the number at 25%.

Religious services are known to provide a social network with established rituals and routines that seem to be important to well being, but even when this was factored in, the older women were still less likely to die. This certainly exceeded the expectations of the researchers when they began the project.

“Interestingly, the protection against mortality provided by religion cannot be entirely explained by expected factors that include enhanced social support of friends or family, lifestyle choice, and reduced smoking and alcohol consumption,” lead author and clinical assistant professor of psychology, Eliezer Schnall is quoted in a news release.

“There is something here that we don’t quite understand. It is always possible that some unknown or unmeasured factors confounded these results.”

Researchers from Yeshiva University and its medical school, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, made no distinction as to the type of service, they were only concerned with the regularity of attendance and if services brought comfort.

The team evaluated the religious practices of 92,395 postmenopausal (ages 50 to 79) women participating in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), who gave information about their religious practices along with details about behavior and health conditions.

The female participants, volunteers collected from a variety of nationwide sources, answered three questions on religion at registration for the WHI study. These were:

1. Religious affiliation (yes or no)
2. How often services were attended (never, less than once per week, once per week, or more than once per week)
3. If religion provided strength and comfort (none, a little, a great deal)

Subjects were followed for about 7.7 years, and adjustments were made for risk factors like age and health history.

And yet, it didn’t seem to matter, women who went to religious services at least once a week had a 20% mortality risk reduction compared to those who didn’t attend services of any kind.

The service attendees did not, however, show any reduction in death that was specifically related to cardiovascular disease.

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Are these 7 mistakes killing your sleep?

Frustratingly, at least 25% of adults suffer from insomnia -

With around 18 million prescriptions written every year for expensive sleeping pills…

…it’s clear that there’s a national epidemic.

So, what do doctors do when they can’t sleep?

Here’s the answer.

Learn how a retired M.D. Laney Chouest from New Orleans broke his 5-year addiction to Ambien, and now sleeps peacefully without medication.

Also, how a Licensed Psychologist, Sharon Stein McNamara, Ed.D.from Minnesota broke the insomnia cycle.

Click through to regain your energy and finally get a full and restful nights sleep.

Attend Regular Religious Services, Live Longer continued

The press release for the work makes a point to note that the study didn’t try to measure spirituality in any way. Instead, it looked at self reported religious practices of this group of women, no matter what that faith might be.

So, while science can’t explain it fully, and the experts plan more studies, it would seem that whatever your beliefs, having a strong social network and engaging in wholesome “routines” can only be a good thing. You’ll live a richer, and now perhaps longer, life.

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spontaneous cancer remission…

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Though many woman dread that yearly mammogram, we’ve all heard often enough that early detection of breast cancer saves lives… finding lumps when they’re too small to feel and before they get a chance to grow and spread gives you the best chance for a cure.

Or does it?

A recent study of mammography screening for breast cancer found that some invasive cancers might spontaneously regress over time, leaving no sign that they were ever present in a woman’s body.

This leaves us to question if breast cancer is over diagnosed, and therefore over treated.

The research, conducted by Norwegian scientists, used 119,472 female subjects aged 50 to 64 years, who underwent three rounds of mammography (one mammogram every two years) from 1996 to 2001 as part of the Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Program.

The cancer rates in this group were compared with the cancer rates of 109,784 control subjects who would have been screened if the program existed back in 1992. The control subjects were invited to have a one-time mammogram at the end of the observation period.

The team had expected that no matter when they were detected, the number of breast cancer tumors would ultimately be the same between the regularly screened group and the never screened controls.

As the researchers expected, the 4-year cumulative incidence of invasive breast cancer in the screened group was higher than in the non-screened control group - 1268 vs. 810 cases per one thousand women.

However, the surprise finding of the research was that even after the one time mammography was given to the previously unscreened control group, the six year cumulative incidence of breast cancer in the mammography screened group was still higher - 1909 vs. 1564 cases per one thousand women.

The study authors couldn’t explain this.

There were no obvious differences between the two groups, and since that all important cumulative incidence of cancer in the control group never reached, even after one time screening, the mammography screened group of subjects, it lends support to the idea that some cancers found on repeat scans wouldn’t show up on a single scan at the end of six years.

The study authors note, “This raises the possibility that the natural course of some screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress.”

Perhaps as many as one in five cancers detected by mammogram might, in fact, spontaneously resolve.

And since two out of three breast cancer tumors are estrogen driven, the drop off of the hormone as women age and go through menopause suggests that cancer cells are naturally starved of the very hormone they need to grow and thrive.

The tumors might disappear altogether or shrink and lie dormant. The discontinuation of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a treatment for menopausal symptoms and the dramatic decrease in breast cancer rates lends fuel to the idea that hormones may fuel the growth of some cancers.

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Research Suggests Some Spontaneous Remission Of Breast Cancer continued

While this study is absolutely not a recommendation to skip your yearly mammogram, it does raise an intriguing question about cancers that may resolve themselves… without our ever knowing or treating them.

“If the spontaneous remission hypothesis is credible, it could cause a major reevaluation in the approach to breast cancer research and treatment,” says cancer expert Dr. Robert M. Kaplan of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Dr. Franz Porzsolt, from the University of Ulm, Germany in a related story that appeared with the study.

In effect, it could in the future lead to an approach that is already used for a well known cancer in men, prostate cancer, where a “Watchful Waiting” approach is sometimes advised.

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The amazing link between sleep and memory

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Napping is a guilty pleasure… one all of us, if we’re lucky, engage in at one time or another, especially during the cold, dark months of winter.

And it seems interestingly that new research has found the link between sleep and memory and that short naps help actually improve to our creativity and our ability to see the big picture.

Too many of us, in our got-to-be-everywhere, 24/7 world, try to act like sleep is something we can do without. But we can’t.

Enter the power nap… a short 15 to 20 minute rest period outside our normal nightly routine, just enough to get us through.

Sleep depravation is a major problem that’s a factor behind many types of accidents, not the least of which happen when driving.

Surveys show that most adults don’t get the seven to eight hours recommended each night to recharge, rebuild and remember.

Over time, lack of sleep can seriously impact the body, leaving you open to diabetes, heart disease and other dangerous conditions.

You only have to think about when you have been ill, and restorative nature of sleep, and how you wake feeling better.

In fact, sleep is as important as a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise keeping the body strong and healthy.

“Not only do we need to remember to sleep, but most certainly we sleep to remember,” says Dr. William Fishbein, a cognitive neuroscientist at the City University of New York, one of our nation’s leading urban public universities. Dr. Fishbein presented the sleep and memory research last week In Washington D.C. at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

As a natural part of aging our sleep becomes more fragmented, we wake more often during the night. Serious conditions like sleep apnea, where breathing stops for short periods so that you are jolted wake, make getting a good night’s sleep impossible.

But fragmented sleep impacts us effects us for days as well. Research on both animals and human subjects shows that we continue to struggle for weeks, even after our sleeping patterns return to normal.

The most recent research on sleep has focused less on the duration of your sleeping period and more on the quality of the sleep, termed sleep intensity.

This period of very deep sleep, known as slow wave sleep (not as well known as dreaming REM sleep) comes first, helping the brain process memories so they stay put. Dr. Fishbein had suspected a bigger role for slow wave sleep periods… perhaps the reason power naps leave us so refreshed.

In the research, 20 English-speaking college students were shown lists of Chinese words of two characters - mother, sister, maid. Then half the students took a nap, and were closely monitored to be sure they didn’t go from slow wave sleep to the REM (dreaming) stage.

When they woke, they took a multiple-choice test of Chinese words they’d never seen. Subjects who napped (an unheard of 90 minute nap) did much better at automatically learning that the first of the two-pair characters in the words they’d memorized earlier always meant the same thing - female. This group, more than the non-nappers were more likely to choose a new word with characters that meant “princess” not “ape.”

“The nap group has essentially teased out what’s going on,” Fishbein concludes.

Another study used a different approach to prove the importance of slow wave sleep on memory.

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin interrupted subjects’ slow wave sleep with a beep that was just loud enough to disturb sleep, but not fully rouse the subject.

Upon waking those people who’d been beeped couldn’t remember a task they’d learned the day before as well as subjects whose slow-wave sleep hadn’t been disrupted by the tone.

Continues below…

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Sleep less BUT have more energy

Do you find there’s not enough hours in the day to do all you’d like…Do you wake up feeling groggy and fatigued?

What if I told you you could sleep less and have MORE energy? I bet you’d snatch my hand off!

Think about all the things you could achieve with another 2 - 3 hours in the day.

Discover the new sleep solution designed with renowned Tiredness Expert Tina Hagen…

A study showed the effectiveness of these breakthrough techniques with:

- 98% of volunteers reported an increase in their energy levels
- 90% said they have no trouble getting up in the morning
- 72% said they felt healthier
- 87% said that they are able to think more clearly

Click through to find out how to sleep less BUT gain more energy

Napping… Now Guilt Free continued

The “take to bed” message is this.

If you suspect sleep apnea, get yourself treated. Just as you eat well and exercise to keep your body (and mind) healthy, do all you can to foster good sleep habits so your body, mind and memory get the chance to recharge.

Regularly depriving yourself of sleep… and then playing catch up on the weekend is sleep’s version of binge eating - not healthy for the long haul.

As for all you nappers out there… take heart; the sum of all this latest sleep research stands in support of those sleep and memory, and that power naps leave you recharged and ready to go.

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Avoid catching and spreading germs when travelling

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

When you’re planning your holiday travel (or travel at any time of year for that matter) it’s worth knowing how to avoid catching and spreading germs, so consider the words of Lahey Clinic physician Dr. Mark Gendreau…

“The risk of contracting a contagious illness is heightened when we travel within any enclosed space, especially during the winter months, when most of the respiratory viruses thrive.”

In fact, you may have seen the New England Journal of Medicine stories over the last few years on airline passengers who spread some pretty serious illnesses to fellow passengers.

The closed, compact space of an airplane cabin appears to be an excellent breeding ground for some pretty impressive germs.

Germs like E. coli, salmonella, coliform, rotavirus, cold virus and the highly publicized form of staph known as MRSA.

And while all of these can be picked up from any public place, not just the airport, the busier the location, the more likely many germs are also present.

Of course there are times when it isn’t practical to avoid the germ factories we’ve come to know airplanes to be, or stay away from the crowds at stores or theaters.

So if you are travelling, or going to another of these crowded places, what can you do to stay healthy?

Here are five smart tips right from the experts…

1) Sit toward the front of the plane. “Pick a seat near the front, since ventilation systems on most commercial aircraft provide better air flow in the front of the aircraft,” Dr. Gendreau advises. If you can afford it, first class or business class is the healthier option, as passengers aren’t packed together as tightly as on other parts of the aircraft.

2) Don’t drink airplane made coffee or tea, as the water used to make these drinks, though heated, comes from water tanks that even the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admits aren’t the cleanest. What’s more, the water needs to be kept at a roiling boil for a full minute to kill dangerous pathogens and this doesn’t happen when these beverages are prepared on a plane.

3) Sanitize your hands after leaving an airplane restroom (this goes for airport restrooms too) as the facilities on a plane are “among the germiest that you’ll encounter almost anywhere,” according to Charles Gerba, an environmental microbiologist at the University of Arizona. Known as “Dr. Germ”, he notes that E. coli is always found on surfaces in airplane restrooms.

Washing with the water in the restroom isn’t much help due to those germ filled water tanks, and the door handle you’ll use on the way out is full of microscopic organisms that come from all those pairs of hands, washed and unwashed. A dose of hand sanitizer once you return to your seat is the best protection.

4) Sanitize, or wash, your hands after using an airport escalator (or any escalator for that matter) as tests have shown that these handrails are full of germs. To get an idea… spend five minutes counting the number of people who use that escalator, multiply by 12 and you’ll have the number per hour. Every one of them is potentially carrying, and leaving, germs on the handrail just waiting to be picked up by you. Once you get off the escalator, as soon as you have an opportunity sanitize or wash your hands.

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There’s a knock at the door. You peak through the curtains… a neighbor you weren’t expecting. You cast an eye over the room - it’s a total mess! Shall you pretend to be out…?

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Five Tips To Avoid Germs When You Travel Or Shop continued

5) Sanitize, or wash, your hands after using an airport ATM (or any busy ATM), as these keypads are covered with germs — the busier the place, the more germs are probably on the machine. The smart move is to sanitize your hands after using one.

If you touch a potentially infected object and then rub your eye, nose or mouth, you’ve just given bacteria a free ride into your body.

The best advice for staying germ (and hopefully illness) free as your travel or shop at busy malls is a sensible regimen of hand washing.

This means soaping your hands well, scrubbing rigorously for at least 17 seconds, rinsing your hands under running hot water, pointing fingers downward and then drying using a clean paper towel.  This will dramatically reduce the risk of catching or spreading germs.

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10 surprising nutritional trends

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

The American Dietetic Association (ADA) has just released results of a new nationwide public opinion survey that lookt at nutritional trends in the US, called Nutrition and You: Trends 2008 that lends hope to the idea that Americans might be getting the message about eating, and living, a more healthy lifestyle.

The survey, conducted by Mintel International for ADA, involved 783 U.S. adults and results were presented at the ADA’s annual meeting, held this year in Chicago.

The main findings include:
- We’re eating more whole grains, veggies and fruits overall.
- We’re eating less trans fat, beef, pork and dairy.
- We’ve got a better attitude toward diet and exercise.

Those who took part in the survey listed five foods or nutrients that they’ve increased during the last five years.

The survey found that:
- 56% are eating more whole grains
- 50% are eating more vegetables
- 48% are eating more fruit
- 48% are eating more low-fat foods
- 38% have added omega-3 fatty acids

Better yet, according to the survey, we’re cutting out some foods that might taste great in the moment, but are truly bad for our bodies. These include:
- Trans fat: 56% say they’ve cut back
- Beef: 41% say they’re eating less
- Pork: 33% report eating less
- Dairy: 23% say they’ve cut back
- Low-sugar foods: 20% say they’ve cut back

Experts caution against eliminating any single type of food from a healthy, balanced diet.

Dairy, for example, contains important nutrients like vitamin D, that though easy enough to get (10 – 30 minutes of sunshine is all it takes), a surprising number of American’s are turning up in doctor’s offices with deficiencies of this vital nutrient.

Low fat choices like skim milk, low fat cheeses and yogurt are all healthy dairy foods that you won’t want to eliminate from your diet.

Lean meats, especially meats like pork tenderloins, can provide vital nutrients without the bad fats you’re trying to avoid.

When it comes to meats, look for cuts with all visible fat removed, and limit your portion sizes to 3 to 4 ounces.

The public opinion survey, conducted over the phone, also pointed out a more positive attitude toward being healthy and what has to be done to get there that’s slowly but surely taking hold.

Participants were offered three options when it came to rating their healthy lifestyle choices, here’s how things broke down…

I’m already doing it: 43% (up from 38% in 2002)
I know I should: 38% (up from 30% in 2002)
Don’t bother me: 19% (down from 32% in 2002)

Progress to be sure… but leaving a good number of participants who could be doing more to stay healthy.

Continues below…

*Highly Recommended*

Announcing: New Hope for Smokers Wanting to Quit

Hypnosis works for smokers…

It’s recognized by The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Also, hypnotherapy, and similar methods have been used by tens of thousands of people for various ailments, complaints and addictions - and now a new program has been created that promises some amazing results…

A guaranteed outcome of being able to permanently stop smoking with only a single one hour session.

Take a look at the simplest way to do this here

Survey: More Of Us Are Eating Right continued

Of course those of us who don’t eat well or exercise have lots of reasons.

These were reflected in the ADA survey and include:
- 79% say they’re satisfied with the way they eat.
- 73% say they don’t want to give up the foods they like.
- 54% say it takes too much time to keep track of their diet.
- 52% say they need more practical tips for healthy eating.
- 41% say they don’t know or understand diet and nutrition guidelines.

The positive results of this latest ADA survey is certainly good news, notes ADA spokeswoman Jeannie Gazzaniga-Moloo, PhD, RD, the presenter of he survey results at the ADA’s annual meeting. “It was encouraging to see those findings,” Gazzaniga-Moloo says.

So, this encouraging view of the nutritional trends goes to show that the message is getting through and the more we all talk about our health and wellbeing, the more people change their ways for the better.

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Anti aging gene the secret to living longer discovered

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Scientific advances never cease to amaze us… and recently researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered what they beleive to be an anti aging gene, which is part of a family of enzymes known as sirtuins appear to extend lifespan rather dramatically in organisms like yeast, worms and flies.

According to their latest work, published in the November 28th issue of the journal Cell, sirtuin is the gene that contributes to aging in single cell organisms like yeast, as well as multiple celled organisms… like us mammals.

The findings are due to the work of a group of researchers led by biologist David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School. This research is part of a growing effort by biologists to understand how sirtuin and other agents seem to be able to control the settings on a living cell’s metabolism… things like how the cell handles fats and reacts to insulin.

The latest study showed that damage in DNA (via UV rays or free radicals, for example) causes problems with the regulatory system of the cell.

Each and every cell in our bodies has as much as six feet of DNA packed inside its nucleus. This DNA carries the nearly 20,000 genetic instructions needed to operate the body.

Each cell only provides access to a handful of these genes, in effect, switching all the others off. Sirtuin normally plays a key role in keeping them turned off.

The trouble starts when sirtuin is called upon to repair DNA. Rushing to the site to effect the repair, the emergency responder protein is no longer able to act as guardian to suppress all the other genes.

So, the genes come back into action and cause nothing but mayhem.

Once the DNA repair is made the sirtuins return to their first job, and get things back in order before any permanent damage can be done.

The research suggests that this process may in fact be the fundamental key to aging… for single celled and multi celled creatures alike.

What’s more, the team of researchers found that administering extra copies of the sirtuin gene or its activator improved the life span of mice by as little as 24% to as much as 46%. Mice with lower levels of the chemicals are more susceptible to DNA damage and cancers.

“What this paper actually implies is that aspects of aging may be reversible,” said Dr. Sinclair. “It sounds crazy, but in principle it should be possible to restore the youthful set of genes, the patterns that are on and off.”

These experiments “elegantly demonstrate” that sirtuin works in much the same way in mammals as it does in yeast, Dr. Jan Vijg of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine wrote in an accompanying commentary in Cell.

Continues below…

*Highly Recommended*

Announcing: New Hope for Smokers Wanting to Quit

Hypnosis works for smokers…

It’s recognized by The American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Also, hypnotherapy, and similar methods have been used by tens of thousands of people for various ailments, complaints and addictions - and now a new program has been created that promises some amazing results…

A guaranteed outcome of being able to permanently stop smoking with only a single one hour session.

Take a look at the simplest way to do this here

Harvard Researchers Find Key Gene Involved With Aging continued

Dr. Sinclair said he agreed that the case for sirtuin’s role in aging has yet to be proven “We are careful not to say this is the cause of aging, but based on everything we know it’s not a bad hypothesis.”

What’s not yet clear if the youthful patterns of gene expression count at all.

Scientists not involved in the work, or affiliated with Sinclair’s biotech company Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, are quick to point out that it’s not clear that keeping gene expression young is the key to staying young.

But many agree that this research and the discovery of this potential anti aging gene could be a useful step in discovering how to slow again and age related conditions

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