Weight Loss Myths

Here is an overview of the obesity myths looked at by the researchers and what is known to be true:
MYTHS
Small things make a big difference. Walking a mile a day can lead to a loss of more than 50 pounds in five years.
Set a realistic goal to lose a modest amount.
People who are too ambitious will get frustrated and give up.
You have to be mentally ready to diet or you will never succeed.
Slow and steady is the way to lose. If you lose weight too fast you will lose less in the long run.
Ideas not yet proven TRUE OR FALSE
Diet and exercise habits in childhood set the stage for the rest of life.
Add lots of fruits and vegetables to your diet to lose weight or not gain as much.
Yo-yo diets lead to increased death rates.
People who snack gain weight and get fat.
If you add bike paths, jogging trails, sidewalks and parks, people will not be as fat.
FACTS — GOOD EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT
Heredity is important but is not destiny.
Exercise helps with weight maintenance.
Weight loss is greater with programs that provide meals.
Some prescription drugs help with weight loss and maintenance.
Weight-loss surgery in appropriate patients can lead to long-term weight loss, less diabetes and a lower death rate.

Being vegetarian can reduce risk of heart disease by up to a third

 

Washington - A new study from the University of Oxford has found that the risk of hospitalisation or death from heart disease is 32 percent lower in vegetarians than people who eat meat and fish.

Heart disease is the single largest cause of death in developed countries. The new findings suggest that a vegetarian diet could significantly reduce people’s risk of heart disease.

“Most of the difference in risk is probably caused by effects on cholesterol and blood pressure, and shows the important role of diet in the prevention of heart disease,” explains Dr Francesca Crowe, lead author of the study at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford.

This is the largest study ever conducted in the UK comparing rates of heart disease between vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

The analysis looked at almost 45,000 volunteers from England and Scotland enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Oxford study, of whom 34 percents were vegetarian. Such a significant representation of vegetarians is rare in studies of this type, and allowed researchers to make more precise estimates of the relative risks between the two groups.

The EPIC-Oxford cohort study was funded by Cancer Research UK and the Medical Research Council and carried out by the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at the University of Oxford.

“The results clearly show that the risk of heart disease in vegetarians is about a third lower than in comparable non-vegetarians, said Professor Tim Key, co-author of the study and deputy director of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford.

The Oxford researchers arrived at the figure of 32 percent risk reduction after accounting for factors such as age, smoking, alcohol intake, physical activity, educational level and socioeconomic background.

Participants were recruited to the study throughout the 1990s, and completed questionnaires regarding their health and lifestyle when they joined. These included detailed questions on diet and exercise as well as other factors affecting health such as smoking and alcohol consumption. Almost 20,000 participants also had their blood pressures recorded, and gave blood samples for cholesterol testing.

The volunteers were tracked until 2009, during which time researchers identified 1235 cases of heart disease. This comprised 169 deaths and 1066 hospital diagnoses, identified through linkage with hospital records and death certificates. Heart disease cases were validated using data from the Myocardial Ischaemia National Audit Project (MINAP).

The researchers found that vegetarians had lower blood pressures and cholesterol levels than non-vegetarians, which is thought to be the main reason behind their reduced risk of heart disease.

Vegetarians typically had lower body mass indices (BMI) and fewer cases of diabetes as a result of their diets, although these were not found to significantly affect the results. If the results are adjusted to exclude the effects of BMI, vegetarians remain 28 percent less likely to develop heart disease.

The findings reinforce the idea that diet is central to prevention of heart disease, and build on previous work looking at the influence of vegetarian diets, the researchers noted.

The finding has been published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Read more: http://www.indiavision.com/news/article/health/392155/being-vegetarian-can-reduce-risk-of-heart-disease-by-up-to-a-third/#ixzz2JZeReh81

FORCED REPS-learn the right way to do them

by Doug Daniels

I would say almost every lifter who has ever touched a barbell has used the forced reps method at one time or another. Forced reps can take intensity to higher levels and, in turn, result in increased size and strength. However, even a good thing can be improved and many lifters stand to gain by re-evaluating their current practices.

Let's start with a quick explanation of the forced reps principle. With forced reps, a lifter completes a rep (or reps) of an exercise with assistance, usually from a training partner. For example, you may get three reps on the bench by yourself, but on the fourth one the bar stops half way up. Your training partner would grab the bar and provide just enough help to enable you to complete the rep. Forced reps allow a lifter to work past failure, thus adding intensity. The amount of assistance provided by your training partner can vary from a slight finger touch at the sticking point to an all hands on deck effort from every lifter in your gym. Of course, more reps can be done with increasing help from your partner.

Unfortunately, some lifters take forced reps to extremes that are not necessarily effective and could prove to be detrimental to their health and well being. Let's continue on the above example. Upon failing on the fourth rep, the lifter is able to complete the bench rep with just a little help from his partner, but he continues for more reps. With each additional rep, his training partner must lift more and more of the weight because of the lifter's rapidly increasingly declining strength. This can continue until the assisting partner is lifting almost the entire weight and in effect be doing an awkward upright row. This creates a potentially dangerous situation for both lifters. As the lifter tires, he has less and less control of the bar and could easily get hurt. The partner is also at risk as he must upright row the bar from an awkward position, which could result in a muscle pull or back injury. It could go as far as both not being able to get the bar back in the rack which could spell trouble for both lifters and potentially nearby lifters. The lifter could lose control of the weight at any time so the helper must remain alert and ready to take full control of the bar at the blink of an eye.

Another application of forced reps is using a weight over max with the goal of adding negative or eccentric resistance. In this example, a 300-max bencher loads 335 on the bar for a forced rep set. The goal is to lower the bar slowly to get negative resistance and then try to push the weight off the chest and then with a partner's help, finish the rep. What too often occurs is the bar is lowered slowly at the start, but as it nears the midway point of its descent, the weight of the bar overpowers the lifter and it crashes down on his chest. The effort to press the bar up moves about 1–2 inches, dies and comes back down. The helper must then react quickly and upright row the bar to the rack. In reality, the helper lifted far more weight than the bencher. In my opinion, if the lifter is not lifting at least 75% of the weight, stop the set immediately. Continuing after this point greatly raises the potential for injury. There's a guy at my gym that is big on this principle but most gym members scatter when he needs help to force some reps for obvious reasons.

A far better scenario of the example above would be use less weight, no more than 100% or perhaps 90–95% of max. Use of a lower weight allows the lifter to better concentrate on lowering the weight slowly and steadily, from the top to the bottom. This may help develop more power off the chest, in the case of the bench, instead of essentially working only the top of the lift when using a heavier weight. If you are determined to use a weight over max, I would not use more than 10% over your max. Going any heavier increases chance of injury and compromises the execution and desired benefits of the set.

Certain lifts are good fits for forced reps like benches, overhead presses and pulldowns while lifts like the squat and deadlift don't fit the scheme due to their complexity. Stronger lifters may need more than one partner to help force reps out. This can be the case for a strong bench presser. If there are not enough capable partners available in such cases, skip the forced reps for safety's sake. Use common sense to determine when and what lifts you can apply forced reps to.

Because of the increased intensity with forced reps, I suggest limiting their use to not overtrain. Recuperative ability varies greatly from individual to individual due to age and general health status. Some lifters might be able to push and maintain the level of intensity harder and longer than others before they overtrain. One to two sets per exercise using forced reps is more than adequate. Forego forced reps training two weeks before a contest to avoid being overtrained.

Forced reps is one of the most practiced power building methods used, but little thought has been given to its more efficient and safe use. Read this article over and see if any of my suggestions can be applied to your training practices. Be sure to keep in mind my safety suggestions such as if you feel yourself not lifting at least 75% of the weight on a forced rep, stop the set. Don't try a set or rep with a weight that is too heavy for you and your helper. You may need to consider getting an extra helper or two in that case. If members scatter when you come to bench, you may want to take another look at forced reps

Vitamin D

Vitamin D—Effects on Skeletal and Extraskeletal Health and the Need for Supplementation

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, has received a lot of attention recently as a result of a meteoric rise in the number of publications showing that vitamin D plays a crucial role in a plethora of physiological functions and associating vitamin D deficiency with many acute and chronic illnesses including disorders of calcium metabolism, autoimmune diseases, some cancers, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and infectious diseases. Vitamin D deficiency is now recognized as a global pandemic. The major cause for vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure has been and continues to be the major source of vitamin D for children and adults of all ages. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in the development and maintenance of a healthy skeleton throughout life. There remains some controversy regarding what blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D should be attained for both bone health and reducing risk for vitamin D deficiency associated acute and chronic diseases and how much vitamin D should be supplemented.

Deadlift Tricks

Louie Simmons

If you want a strong deadlift, you must become both very strong and very fast. To maintain peak levels of overall strength all year long,
 you must train both speed strength and absolute strength on different days of the same week. By training these two forms of strength in this nonsequential manner, you will be utilizing a defining feature of the greatest strength-developing technology ever constructed: Westside’s system of “conjugate periodization.”
Speed squat/deadlift day should take place 72 hours after your maximum-effort squat/deadlift day. Speed deadlifts should be trained right after speed box-squats. Load the bar to 50% of your one-rep max (1RM) and place tension bands over the barbell so that an extra 30% of resistance is added at the top (this can be implemented by placing doubled-over mini bands on top of the collars). Perform 6–10 sets of singles, resting only about one minute between sets. Rotate among conventional-style deadlifts, sumo-style deadlifts, and ultrawide sumo-style deadlifts (the latter build great flexibility and very strong hips). Do regular deadlifts while standing on a two-inch or four-inch box, or sumo-style deadlifts while standing on a two-inch box. Conversely, weight can be pulled of a two-inch or four-inch box.
Another good deadlift variation is 
a conventional pull in the power rack, with bands doubled or quadrupled
 over the loaded barbell and attached 
to a higher point on the rack. Depending on the type and arrangement of the bands, 
a range of band tension—125 pounds, 250 pounds, 350 pounds—can be applied at the top of the pull. As the bar moves upward, the band tension increases. This teaches a lifter to apply maximum speed to the lift in order to overcome the resistance provided. It also enables a lifter to push through any sticking point encountered at any specific point of the lift.
The dynamic-effort (speed) squat/ deadlift day involves high-volume training at moderate intensity. After completing both speed squats and speed deadlifts, incorporate accessory work, targeting (without limitation) the abs, lower back, lats, hamstrings, and upper back. Train abs first then move on to reverse hypers, 
back raises, and light good mornings. Next, pick a lat and a trap exercise and regularly rotate between them. If possible, do a second shorter (25- to 30-minute) workout that is designed to specifically target your lagging areas. Include some sled powerwalking or wheelbarrow walking forward and/or backward in this supplemental workout.
Are There Really Tricks To Deadlifting?
Well, yes, biomechanically speaking. I devised one trick that trains lifers to assume the correct position at the start of a deadlift. Sit on a chair or box that is roughly 16 inches high. While sitting, lift your loaded barbell to
a locked out position, pause, then stand up to lockout. This trick perfects form from start to lockout. The chair deadlift puts you in a perfect pulling position because (1) it causes the barbell to automatically force the legs outward, and (2) it brings the lower back closer to the bar, which affects optimal leverage in the deadlift.
A second trick is to anchor bands to a point on the deadlift platform in front of the bar and then to loop them over the bar and back to the anchor point. This band arrangement forces you to pull the bar toward your center of mass—an absolute key to locking out a big deadlift. It’s especially valuable because (1) it prevents the bar from rolling forward, causing it to be forcefully pulled toward your body, and (2) it allows you to do speed singles or special exercises to develop the hamstrings as well as the entire back: Because the body follows the head, the spinal erectors must straighten the body as the head moves backward.
A third deadlift trick is actually a squat movement. Place a very heavy object in front of the squat bar
and hook a set of monster or light bands to it; then, afx the bands
 to the bar. As you squat, the band resistance pulls you forward, forcing your back to arch and your knees to move outward. This trick develops the hips and perfects your squat and sumo deadlift technique. It also exposes weaknesses in the squat
by taxing the lower back, middle back, and hamstrings. The most taxed muscles are “weak link” muscles that need extra work.
The bands identify weak points, just as any good strength coach would. Special thanks goes to Ireland’s Gerry McNamara for this trick.

If all this seems confusing, check out westside-barbell.com, where you can find information that makes these methods seem simple. Also, check out what is happening with Westside’s new supplement line at westsideperformancenutrition.com. Until next time, Good luck and
stay strong.

Caffeine Helps Get Extra Reps on Most Sets

Getting a couple of extra reps on most sets during a workout can make a huge difference in how much muscle mass you pack on.

Jim Stoppani, Ph.D

 

FLEX Magazine has long touted the benefits of taking caffeine before workouts to boost strength, endurance and fat burning.
Researchers from the United Kingdom had trained male lifters complete as many reps as they could on the bench press with 60% of their one-rep max (a weight they could lift for about 20 reps) one hour after consuming about 400 milligrams of caffeine or a placebo.
They reported in a 2011 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that when the subjects consumed the caffeine before the workout, they were able to complete an average of two more reps as compared to when they consumed the placebo.
So do as we have always recommended and take 200–400 mg of caffeine, or use a preworkout supplement containing caffeine, about an hour before workouts to boost your strength and endurance.
Getting a couple of extra reps on most sets during a workout can make a huge difference in how much muscle mass you pack on.

Diabetics' heart at risk from BP, cholesterol

Washington - For diabetics, blood pressure and cholesterol are the two key factors that could increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, says a new study involving more than 26,000 people suffering from blood sugar.

"People with diabetes are often focused on controlling their blood sugar, but our study found that controlling blood pressure and cholesterol is even more important in preventing heart disease," said Greg Nichols, senior investigator and study author from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in the US.

"This doesn't mean that people with diabetes should ignore their blood sugar levels. They should still get regular tests to measure and control their blood glucose, but it's also important to pay attention to other factors that increase the risk for cardiovascular disease," reported the Journal of General Internal Medicine, quoting Nichols' study.

Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely than non-diabetics to have cardiovascular disease, and most people with diabetes will die from a heart attack or stroke, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.

There is abundant evidence that controlling the ABCs-A1C (an average measure of blood sugar), blood pressure and cholesterol-can reduce the risk, but until now it has been unclear which of these factors is most important, according to a Kaiser Permanente statement.

Read more: http://www.indiavision.com/news/article/health/391350/diabetics-heart-at-risk-from-bp-cholesterol/#ixzz2JNUL5YcJ

Health Benefits of Arugula Nutrients

 

Arugula is one of the most known leafy green vegetable that belongs to the family of Brassicaceae and botanically known as Eruca Sativa. Arugula is identical to cauliflower, spinach, kale and mustard green vegetables. Arugula is otherwise commonly called as salad rocket and green rocket vegetable. Arugula leaves are lobed and elongated with nutty flavor and sweet or less pepper in taste. This plant is annual herb that grows up to three feet and has white edible flowers.

Arugula leafy green vegetable contains many essential vitamins such as Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin A, C, E, K and folates and minerals such as zinc, manganese, calcium, Iron, magnesium, selenium, phosphorous, copper, and antioxidants like beta carotene, alpha carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and macro nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, dietary fiber and zero cholesterol, all these nutrients contribute to provide better health and prevent many health disorders.

Top health benefits of Arugula nutrients that include; being it is a cruciferous vegetable that has sulforaphane and antioxidants, while the former blocks carcinogens and latter eliminates free oxygen radicals, thereby it lowers the risk of contracting many cancer disorders such as oral, lung and skin cancer. As it is rich in antioxidants, it strengthens immune system. It improves skin, bones and eye health due to the presence of rich content of vitamin A. Arugula is very beneficial for weight loss as it contains low calories. Arugula has low oxalate content but rich in calcium content that is beneficial for bone health and blocks the excess absorption of minerals.

The other health benefits of Arugula include; it prevents macular degeneration due to the presence of good content of antioxidants, it prevents cancer disease due to the presence of glucosinolates also. Arugula is very rich in fiber and nutritionally rich that improves cardiovascular health, prevents CAD disorders, and prevents Alzheimer’s disorder especially due to the presence of Vitamin K. It safeguards DNA and Liver from damage caused by alfatoxins due to the presence of rich chlorophyll.

It improves the health of nervous system and prevents neurological disorders due to the presence of Vitamin B complex constituents like folates, niacin, pyridoxine etc.. While the presence of vitamin k and calcium prevents osteoporosis, and aids in regeneration bone cells. It boosts up metabolic activities, regulates bowel movements, helps in digestive function and prevents constipation. DIM or Di-Indolyl-methane found in Arugula has anti bacterial and anti viral properties, that prevents bacterial and viral infections.

Reishi: the Mushroom of Kings

Being a member of the Research and Development and Product Development teams for Designs for Health affords me the opportunity to perform scientific literature searches and investigations into the clinical and therapeutic properties of many different botanically-derived compounds and substances. Personally, I’m of the opinion that most, if not all, the answers to our healthcare needs lie in the natural world. We have simply to discover them.

One class of medicinally oriented botanicals I find incredibly interesting is the medicinal mushrooms. While mostly famous and ubiquitous in Japanese and Chinese healing traditions, the power of these mushrooms is being studied in western medicine for a vast number of therapeutic properties.

reishi mushroomPossibly the most well known of the medicinal mushrooms is thereishi – Ganoderma lucidum or Ling Zhi as it is known in China). Ling Zhi translates to “divine plant of longevity” but is also known as the “mushroom of immortality” and “the mushroom of kings.” As reishi has been used in China for over 2,000 years, the name brings to mind Chinese emperors, ancient mountainous forests, and dark, dank and dusty old herbal apothecaries run by wizened herbal wizards.

In the wild, reishi grow on hardwoods such as maple, oaks, and elms but are now very rare and difficult to find in their natural habitat. Therefore, most reishi sold today is cultivated commercially.

Immunoprotective properties

This hard, woody, bitter and subsequently inedible mushroom contains multiple active ingredients including polysaccharides and triterpenes which are currently primarily being studied for their immune system-enhancing and possible cancer-fighting effects.

Specific polysaccharides, known as href="http://catalog.designsforhealth.com/ImmunoBerry-Liquid?sc=2&category=3780">beta-glucans, are thought to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer by what researchers believe to be a variety of mechanisms of action including stimulating the production of T cells, NK cells and macrophages to fight the afflicted cells, inhibiting the adhesion of cancerous cells to normally functioning endothelial cells.

Men’s health

The triterpines found in Ganoderma lucidum extracts also inhibit the 5 alpha-reductase enzyme, which converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone and is upregulated in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This makes it a possible therapeutic tool for men to help fight against BPH, lower urinary tract symptoms, and possibly prostate cancer.

Liver support

Reishi has been shown to be liver protective, reducing fibrosis and associated liver damage in toxin induced hepatopathologies.

reishi mushroomsNeuroprotective properties

Additionally, reishi extracts have demonstrated neuroprotective properties through its modulation of inflammatory cytokines. For instance, in cell studies, reishi was shown toprotect dopaminergic neurons whose damage is implicated in the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease.

Autoimmune support

Reishi has shown efficacy in models of autoimmunity. For example, it was shown todecrease the symptoms associated with Sjogren’s syndrome, a condition where the body’s lymphocytes attack salivary glands and which is very difficult to treat. Reishi may also prove to be useful in rheumatoid arthritis, another autoimmune condition, as it demonstrated analgesic characteristics in patients suffering with this condition.

Protection during cancer therapies

There are many, many studies showing reishi’s potential as an adjunctive therapeutic tool but it’s also been shown to protect normal cells from the ravages of both radiation and chemotherapies, making it a strong consideration as a complement to traditional cancer therapies

Exercise: Women Must Do More to Reap Same Positive Health Outcomes as Men

Jan. 23, 2013 — More than one-third of Americans are obese, and these individuals often experience accompanying health issues, such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular problems. In response to the so-called "obesity epidemic," many medical professionals have suggested ways to improve the health outcomes of obese individuals through diet and exercise. Now, research conducted at the University of Missouri suggests certain exercises that benefit obese men may not have the same positive results for obese women. These findings could help health providers and researchers develop targeted exercise interventions for obese women.

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"Our results indicate gender may contribute to differences in cardiovascular function of obese individuals with Type 2 diabetes," said Jill Kanaley, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at MU. "Men saw improvement after aerobic exercise training, but the women did not experience the same benefits."
Kanaley and her colleagues monitored cardiovascular responses, such as heart rate and blood pressure, of nearly 75 obese men and women with Type 2 diabetes. To monitor cardiovascular responses, the individuals completed an isometric handgrip test, which involves continually and forcefully squeezing an object for a few minutes, at the beginning and end of a structured, 16-week walking program.
"What this research highlights, at least using the handgrip test, is that the advantages we think exercise is going to give individuals may not be the same across genders, particularly for those who have Type 2 diabetes," Kanaley said. "This is a concern because there are high mortality rates with Type 2 diabetes, especially for women. We're trying to find successful interventions to help these individuals, and we keep assuming that exercise will do the trick -- we think when we tell people to "go train," regardless of gender, everyone will get the same results. Our research indicates certain exercises may not be enough for women, as our walking program did not show positive improvements for them."
Obese women with Type 2 diabetes might benefit from longer durations or higher intensities of exercise, Kanaley said. In addition, Kanaley said more concern should be placed on how long it takes cardiovascular function to return to normal after exercise as well as how fast the heart beats during physical exertion.
"A lot of people focus on how high individuals' heart rates get during exercise, but their recovery rates also should be monitored," Kanaley said. "When you exercise, you want your blood pressure to rise, but you don't want it to get too high. Your blood pressure should return to normal relatively quickly after you stop exercise. In our study, the recovery rate for women was not as rapid as for men. After the men trained, they got an even better recovery time, whereas women's time stayed about the same."
The study, "Exercise training improves hemodynamic recovery to isometric exercise in obese men with Type 2 diabetes but not in obese women," was published in the December issue of Metabolism.

Keeping Blood Pressure in Check

By JANE E. BRODY

Jane Brody on health and aging.

Since the start of the 21st century, Americans have made great progress in controlling high blood pressure, though it remains a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes, congestive heart failure and kidney disease.
Now 48 percent of the more than 76 million adults with hypertension have it under control, up from 29 percent in 2000.
But that means more than half, including many receiving treatment, have blood pressure that remains too high to be healthy. (A normal blood pressure is lower than 120 over 80.) With a plethora of drugs available to normalize blood pressure, why are so many people still at increased risk of disease, disability and premature death? Hypertension experts offer a few common, and correctable, reasons:
¶ About 20 percent of affected adults don’t know they have high blood pressure, perhaps because they never or rarely see a doctor who checks their pressure.
¶ Of the 80 percent who are aware of their condition, some don’t appreciate how serious it can be and fail to get treated, even when their doctors say they should.
¶ Some who have been treated develop bothersome side effects, causing them to abandon therapy or to use it haphazardly.
¶ Many others do little to change lifestyle factors, like obesity, lack of exercise and a high-salt diet, that can make hypertension harder to control.
Dr. Samuel J. Mann, a hypertension specialist and professor of clinical medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College, adds another factor that may be the most important. Of the 71 percent of people with hypertension who are currently being treated, too many are taking the wrong drugs or the wrong dosages of the right ones.
Dr. Mann, author of “Hypertension and You: Old Drugs, New Drugs, and the Right Drugs for Your High Blood Pressure,” says that doctors should take into account the underlying causes of each patient’s blood pressure problem and the side effects that may prompt patients to abandon therapy. He has found that when treatment is tailored to the individual, nearly all cases of high blood pressure can be brought and kept under control with available drugs.
Plus, he said in an interview, it can be done with minimal, if any, side effects and at a reasonable cost.
“For most people, no new drugs need to be developed,” Dr. Mann said. “What we need, in terms of medication, is already out there. We just need to use it better.”
But many doctors who are generalists do not understand the “intricacies and nuances” of the dozens of available medications to determine which is appropriate to a certain patient.
“Prescribing the same medication to patient after patient just does not cut it,” Dr. Mann wrote in his book.
The trick to prescribing the best treatment for each patient is to first determine which of three mechanisms, or combination of mechanisms, is responsible for a patient’s hypertension, he said.
¶ Salt-sensitive hypertension, more common in older people and African-Americans, responds well to diuretics and calcium channel blockers.
¶ Hypertension driven by the kidney hormone renin responds best to ACE inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers, as well as direct renin inhibitors and beta-blockers.
¶ Neurogenic hypertension is a product of the sympathetic nervous system and is best treated with beta-blockers, alpha-blockers and drugs like clonidine.
According to Dr. Mann, neurogenic hypertension results from repressed emotions. He has found that many patients with it suffered trauma early in life or abuse. They seem calm and content on the surface but continually suppress their distress, he said.
One of Dr. Mann’s patients had had high blood pressure since her late 20s that remained well-controlled by the three drugs her family doctor prescribed. Then in her 40s, periodic checks showed it was often too high. When taking more of the prescribed medication did not result in lasting control, she sought Dr. Mann’s help.
After a thorough work-up, he said she had a textbook case of neurogenic hypertension, was taking too much medication and needed different drugs. Her condition soon became far better managed, with side effects she could easily tolerate, and she no longer feared she would die young of a heart attack or stroke.
But most patients should not have to consult a specialist. They can be well-treated by an internist or family physician who approaches the condition systematically, Dr. Mann said. Patients should be started on low doses of one or more drugs, including a diuretic; the dosage or number of drugs can be slowly increased as needed to achieve a normal pressure.
Specialists, he said, are most useful for treating the 10 percent to 15 percent of patients with so-called resistant hypertension that remains uncontrolled despite treatment with three drugs, including a diuretic, and for those whose treatment is effective but causing distressing side effects.
Hypertension sometimes fails to respond to routine care, he noted, because it results from an underlying medical problem that needs to be addressed.
“Some patients are on a lot of blood pressure drugs — four or five — who probably don’t need so many, and if they do, the question is why,” Dr. Mann said.

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How to Measure Your Blood Pressure
Mistaken readings, which can occur in doctors’ offices as well as at home, can result in misdiagnosis of hypertension and improper treatment. Dr. Samuel J. Mann, of Weill Cornell Medical College, suggests these guidelines to reduce the risk of errors:
¶ Use an automatic monitor rather than a manual one, and check the accuracy of your home monitor at the doctor’s office.
¶ Use a monitor with an arm cuff, not a wrist or finger cuff, and use a large cuff if you have a large arm.
¶ Sit quietly for a few minutes, without talking, after putting on the cuff and before checking your pressure.
¶ Check your pressure in one arm only, and take three readings (not more) one or two minutes apart.
¶ Measure your blood pressure no more than twice a week unless you have severe hypertension or are changing medications.
¶ Check your pressure at random, ordinary times of the day, not just when you think it is high.

Top Protein Sources for Vegetarians

Proteins are significant macro nutrient among all other macro nutrients that include carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber etc. Proteins play major role for up keeping general health, for maintaining muscle tone, muscle regeneration and for overall body performance. Diet without proteins attracts many health disorders. Non-vegetarians get their protein share from animal based foods, such as mutton, chicken etc.
According to recommendations of USDA, women require as much as 45 grams of protein per day while men require as much as 55 grams of protein per day. But sports personnel and pregnant women may require more than 60 grams of protein per day. Proteins are very much important for muscle building, to strengthen immune system, for proper growth and for well maintenance of circulatory, respiratory systems of the body. Plant based proteins are more beneficial for health than animal based proteins, as it contain low calorific value, less in fat content too.
Here we discuss top sources of protein for vegetarians that include some of the following foods; among whole grains, cereal based foods such as barley and quinoa are top sources for proteins. Just one cup of quinoa gives as much as eighteen grams of protein, but generally quinoa cereal is not available in India as it is mostly cultivated in USA. Barley cereal is easily available in India, which is one of the best sources of protein for vegetarians. Apart from these, whole wheat, brown rice are also good sources of proteins for them.
Seeds and nuts are considered as powerhouses of energy. Among seeds and nuts, walnuts, Brazil nuts, peanuts, almonds, cashew nuts, pistachios, sesame seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds and sun flower seeds are good source of protein for vegetarian. Non-vegetarians also should include these nuts and seeds in their diet for better health. Soya bean products such as soy milk, and recipes made with soya beans provide more proteins. Approximately, one cup of soy milk gives you as much as twenty grams of protein. So, having soy milk every day provides half of the daily requirement of protein.
In sprouts section, legumes, lentils, beans, pinto beans, rajma beans, soya beans are best and top sources of proteins. To meet daily requirement of proteins, it is advised to take some of these sprouts could be added to salads and recipes by Nutritionists. Lentils and beans are also good source of the same. In general, Indian recipes or cuisines include beans and lentils to meet the requirement of proteins. Among vegetables, broccoli and spinach are great source of proteins.
Among dairy products, yogurt is the best source of protein for vegetarians. Yogurt could be easily digested and does not create acidity problems. Another best source is whey proteins, which is by-product of cheese should also be included.

Soybean Oil: One of the Most Harmful Ingredients in Processed Foods

By Dr. Mercola

Processed food is perhaps the most damaging aspect of most people’s diet, contributing to poor health and chronic disease. One of the primary culprits is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), the dangers of which I touch on in virtually every article on diet I write.
The second culprit is partially hydrogenated soybean oil.
These two ingredients, either alone or in combination, can be found in virtually all processed foods and one can make a compelling argument that the reliance on these two foods is a primary contributing factor for most of the degenerative diseases attacking Americans today.
Part of the problem with partially hydrogenated soybean oil is the trans fat it contains. The other part relates to the health hazards of soy itself. And an added hazard factor is the fact that the majority of both corn and soybeans are genetically engineered.
As the negative health effects from trans fats have been identified and recognized, the agricultural- and food industry have scrambled to come up with new alternatives.
Partially hydrogenated soybean oil has been identified as the main culprit, and for good reason. Unfortunately, saturated fats are still mistakenly considered unhealthy by many health “experts,” so rather than embracing truly healthful tropical fats like coconut oil, which is mostly grown outside the US. The food industry has instead turned to domestic US alternatives offered by companies like Monsanto, which has developed modified soybeans that don’t require hydrogenation.

Why Hydrogenate?

Americans consume more than 28 billion pounds of edible oils annually, and soybean oil accounts for about 65 percent of it. About half of it is hydrogenated, as soybean oil is too unstable otherwise to be used in food manufacturing. One of the primary reasons for hydrogenating oil is to prolong its shelf life. Raw butter, for example, is likely to go rancid far quicker than margarine.
The process also makes the oil more stable and raises its melting point, which allows it to be used in various types of food processing that uses high temperatures.
Hydrogenated oil¹ is made by forcing hydrogen gas into the oil at high pressure. Virtually any oil can be hydrogenated. Margarine is a good example, in which nearly half of the fat content is trans fat. The process that creates partially hydrogenated oil alters the chemical composition of essential fatty acids, such as reducing or removing linolenic acid, a highly reactive triunsaturated fatty acid, transforming it into the far less reactive linoleic acid, thereby greatly preventing oxidative rancidity when used in cooking.
In the late 1990’s, researchers began realizing this chemical alteration might actually have adverse health effects. Since then, scientists have verified this to the point of no dispute.
Beware that there’s a difference between “fully hydrogenated” and “partially hydrogenated” oils. Whereas partially hydrogenated oil contains trans fat, fully hydrogenated oil does not, as taking the hydrogenation process “all the way” continues the molecular transformation of the fatty acids from trans fat into saturated fatty acids. Fully hydrogenated soybean oil is still not a healthy choice however, for reasons I’ll explain below. The following slide presentation explains the technical aspects relating to the hydrogenation process.

This is a Flash-based video and may not be viewable on mobile devices.

The Health Hazards of Trans Fats Found in Partially Hydrogenated Oil

The completely unnatural man-made fats created through the partial hydrogenation process cause dysfunction and chaos in your body on a cellular level, and studies have linked trans-fats to:

Cancer, by interfering with enzymes your body uses to fight cancer	Chronic health problems such as obesity, asthma, auto-immune disease, cancer, and bone degeneration
Diabetes, by interfering with the insulin receptors in your cell membranes	Heart disease, by clogging your arteries (Among women with underlying coronary heart disease, eating trans-fats increased the risk of sudden cardiac arrest three-fold!)
Decreased immune function, by reducing your immune response	Increase blood levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, while lowering levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol
Reproductive problems by interfering with enzymes needed to produce sex hormones	Interfering with your body’s use of beneficial omega-3 fats

As usual, it took many years before conventional health recommendations caught up and began warning about the use of trans fats. Not surprisingly, as soon as the FDA required food manufacturers to list trans fat content on the label — which took effect on January 1, 2006 — the industry began searching for viable alternatives to appeal to consumers who increasingly began looking for the “No Trans Fat” designation. It didn’t take long before Monsanto had tinkered forth a genetically engineered soybean that is low in linolenic acid, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Beware that some food manufacturers have opted to simply fool buyers — a tactic allowed by the FDA as any product containing up to half a gram of trans fat per serving can still legally claim to have zero trans fat². The trick is to reduce the serving size to bring it below this threshold. At times, this will result in unreasonably tiny serving sizes, so any time you check a label and a serving is something like 10 chips or one cookie, it probably contains trans fats.

The Health Hazards of Soybeans

Besides the health hazards related to the trans fats created by the partial hydrogenation process, soybean oil is, in and of itself, NOT a healthy oil. Add to that the fact that the majority of soy grown in the US is genetically engineered, which may have additional health consequences. When taken together, partially hydrogenated GE soybean oil becomes one of the absolute worst types of oils you can consume.
Years ago, tropical oils, such as palm and coconut oil, were commonly used in American food production. However, these are obviously not grown in the US. With the exception of Hawaii, our climate isn't tropical enough. Spurred on by financial incentives, the industry devised a plan to shift the market from tropical oils to something more "home grown." As a result, a movement was created to demonize and vilify tropical oils in order to replace them with domestically grown oils such as corn and soy.
The fat in soybean oil is primarily omega-6 fat. And while we do need some, it is rare for anyone to be deficient as it is pervasive in our diet. Americans in general consume FAR too much omega-6 in relation to omega-3 fat, primarily due to the excessive amount of omega-6 found in processed foods. Omega-6 fats are in nearly every animal food and many plants, so deficiencies are very rare. This omega-6 fat is also highly processed and therefore damaged, which compounds the problem of getting so much of it in your diet. The omega-6 found in soybean oil promotes chronic inflammation in your body, which is an underlying issue for virtually all chronic diseases.

What About Organic Soybean Oil?

Even if you were fortunate enough to find organic soybean oil, there are still several significant concerns that make it far from attractive from a health standpoint. Soy in and of itself, organically grown or not, contains a number of problematic components that can wreak havoc with your health, such as:

• Goitrogens – Goitrogens, found in all unfermented soy whether it's organic or not, are substances that block the synthesis of thyroid hormones and interfere with iodine metabolism, thereby interfering with your thyroid function.
• Isoflavones: genistein and daidzein – Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, which is a plant compound resembling human estrogen, which is why some recommend using soy therapeutically to treat symptoms of menopause. I believe the evidence is highly controversial and doubt it works. Typically, most of us are exposed to too much estrogen compounds and have a lower testosterone level than ideal, so it really is important to limit exposure to feminizing phytoestrogens. Even more importantly, there's evidence it may disturb endocrine function, cause infertility, and promote breast cancer, which is definitely a significant concern.
• Phytic acid -- Phytates (phytic acid) bind to metal ions, preventing the absorption of certain minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc -- all of which are co-factors for optimal biochemistry in your body. This is particularly problematic for vegetarians, because eating meat reduces the mineral-blocking effects of these phytates.
Sometimes it can be beneficial, especially in postmenopausal women and in most adult men because we tend to have levels of iron that are too high which can be a very potent oxidant and cause biological stress. However, phytic acid does not necessarily selectively inhibit just iron absorption; it inhibits all minerals. This is very important to remember, as many already suffer from mineral deficiencies from inadequate diets.
The soybean has one of the highest phytate levels of any grain or legume, and the phytates in soy are highly resistant to normal phytate-reducing techniques such as long, slow cooking. Only a long period of fermentation will significantly reduce the phytate content of soybeans.

• Natural toxins known as "anti-nutrients" -- Soy also contains other anti-nutritional factors such as saponins, soyatoxin, protease inhibitors, and oxalates. Some of these factors interfere with the enzymes you need to digest protein. While a small amount of anti-nutrients would not likely cause a problem, the amount of soy that many Americans are now eating is extremely high.
• Hemagglutinin -- Hemagglutinin is a clot-promoting substance that causes your red blood cells to clump together. These clumped cells are unable to properly absorb and distribute oxygen to your tissues.

Worst of All — Genetically Engineered Soybean Oil

The genetically engineered (GE) variety planted on over 90 percent of US soy acres is Roundup Ready — engineered to survive being doused with otherwise lethal amounts of Monsanto's Roundup herbicide. The logic behind Roundup Ready crops such as soy is that you can decrease the cost of production by killing off everything except the actual soy plant.
However, animal studies reveal there may be significant adverse health effects from these GE soybeans, including progressively increased rates of infertility with each passing generation. By the third generation, virtually all the hamsters in one feeding study were found to be infertile. Second-generation hamsters raised on GE soy also had a five-fold higher infant mortality rate.

Are Low-Linolenic Soybeans the Answer?

We now also have other Monsanto-made soy crops to contend with. Responding to the growing demand for healthier diets, Monsanto launched Vistive low-linolenic soybeans in 2005. Most soybeans contain roughly seven percent linolenic acid. The new varieties contain one to three percent. As explained by Monsanto³:

“The oil from these beans can reduce or virtually eliminate trans fat in processed soybean oil... Vistive low-linolenic soybeans have lower levels of linolenic acid. Because of these lower levels, which were achieved through traditional breeding practices⁴, the oil produced by Vistive low-linolenic seeds does not require hydrogenation, the process that is used to increase shelf life and flavor stability in fried foods, baked goods, snack products and other processed foods.”

Yet another soybean variety created by Monsanto is the high stearate soybean, which also has the properties of margarine and shortening without hydrogenation. But are these soybeans any better or safer than either conventional soybeans or Roundup Ready soybeans, even though they don’t have to go through partial hydrogenation, and therefore do not contain trans fat? No one knows.

Another Hazard of GE Soybeans: Glyphosate

I keep stacking health risks upon health risks, and here’s another one: Research has shown that soybean oil from Roundup Ready soy is loaded with glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup — the broad-spectrum herbicide created by Monsanto.
According to a report in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, the highest MRL for glyphosate in food and feed products in the EU is 20 mg/kg. GE soybeans have been found to contain residue levels as high as 17 mg/kg, and malformations in frog and chicken embryos occurred at 2.03 mg/kg.⁵ That's 10 times lower than the MRL.
This is an alarming finding because glyphosate is easily one of the world's most overlooked poisons. Research published in 2010 showed that the chemical, which works by inhibiting an enzyme called EPSP synthase that is necessary for plants to grow, causes birth defects in frogs and chicken embryos at far lower levels than used in agricultural and garden applications.⁶ The malformations primarily affected the:

• Skull
• Face
• Midline and developing brain
• Spinal cord

When applied to crops, glyphosate becomes systemic throughout the plant, so it cannot be washed off. And once you eat this crop, the glyphosate ends up in your gut where it can decimate your beneficial bacteria. This can wreak havoc with your health as 80 percent of your immune system resides in your gut (GALT – Gut Associated Lymph Tissue) and is dependent on a healthy ratio of good and bad bacteria. Separate research has also uncovered the following effects from glyphosate:

Endocrine disruption	DNA damage
Developmental toxicity	Neurotoxicity
Reproductive toxicity	Cancer

To Avoid Harmful Fats of All Kinds, Ditch Processed Foods

If you want to avoid dangerous fats of all kinds, your best bet is to eliminate processed foods from your diet. From there, use these tips to make sure you're eating the right fats for your health:

• Use organic butter (preferably made from raw milk) instead of margarines and vegetable oil spreads. Butter is a healthy whole food that has received an unwarranted bad rap.
• Use coconut oil for cooking. It is far superior to any other cooking oil and is loaded with health benefits.
• Be sure to eat raw fats, such as those from avocados, raw dairy products, olive oil, olives, organic pastured eggs, and raw nuts, especially macadamia nuts which are relatively low in protein. Also take a high-quality source of animal-based omega-3 fat, such as krill oil.

Following my comprehensive nutrition plan will automatically reduce your trans-fat intake, as it will give you a guide to focus on healthy whole foods instead of processed junk food. Remember, virtually all processed foods will contain either HFCS (probably made from genetically engineered corn) and/or soybean oil — either in the form of partially hydrogenated soybean oil, which is likely made from GE soybeans, loaded with glyphosate, or from one of the newer soybean varieties that were created such that they do not need to be hydrogenated. They’re ALL bad news, if you value your health.

Top 12 Tips to Prevent Cancer

The bottom line here is that there’s a lot you can do to lower your chances of getting cancer -- you and your family CAN take control of your health. Don’t wait for diagnosis, take the reins and be a proactive participant in your own health care, before you end up in need for disease management. I believe you can virtually eliminate your risk of cancer and chronic disease, and radically improve your chances of recovering from cancer if you currently have it, by following these relatively simple risk reduction strategies.

1. Reduce or eliminate your processed food, sugar/fructose and grain carbohydrate intake. This applies to whole unprocessed organic grains as well, as they tend to rapidly break down and drive your insulin and leptin levels up, which is the last thing you need to have happening if you are seeking to resolve or prevent cancer.
2. Consider reducing your protein levels to one gram per kilogram of lean body weight. It would be unusual for most adults to need more than 100 grams of protein and most likely close to half that. 
3. Control your fasting insulin and leptin levels. This is the end result you’ll get when you remove sugars and grains from your diet and start to exercise regularly. Your levels can be easily monitored with the use of simple and relatively inexpensive blood tests.
4. Normalize your ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats by taking a high-quality krill oil and reducing your intake of most processed vegetable oils.
5. Get regular exercise. One of the primary reasons exercise works is that it drives your insulin levels down. Controlling insulin levels is one of the most powerful ways to reduce your cancer risks.
The trick about exercise, though, is understanding how to use it as a precise tool. This ensures you are getting enough to achieve the benefit, not too much to cause injury, and the right variety to balance your entire physical structure and maintain strength and flexibility, and aerobic and anaerobic fitness levels. If you have limited time Peak Fitness exercises are your best bet but ideally you should have a good strength training program as well.

6. Normalize your vitamin D levels by getting appropriate sun exposure, and consider careful supplementation when this is not possible. However, if you’re taking oral vitamin D, you also need to make sure you’re taking vitamin K2 as well, as K2 deficiency is actually what produces the symptoms of vitamin D toxicity, which includes inappropriate calcification that can lead to hardening of your arteries. To learn more, please see my previous article: What You Need to Know About Vitamin K2, D and Calcium. If you take oral vitamin D and have cancer, it would be very prudent to monitor your vitamin D blood levels regularly.
7. Get regular, good sleep.
8. Reduce your exposure to environmental toxins like pesticides, household chemical cleaners, synthetic air fresheners and air pollution.
9. Limit your exposure and provide protection for yourself from radiation produced by cell phones, towers, base stations, and WiFi stations.
10. Avoid frying or charbroiling your food. Boil, poach or steam your foods instead.
11. Have a tool to permanently reprogram the neurological short-circuiting that can activate cancer genes. Even the CDC states that 85 percent of disease is caused by emotions. It is likely that this factor may be more important than all the other physical ones listed here, so make sure this is addressed. My particular favorite tool for resolving emotional challenges, as you may know, is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT).
12. Eat at least one-third of your food raw.

Consider adding cancer-fighting whole foods, herbs, spices and supplements to your diet, such as broccoli, curcumin and resveratrol. To learn more about how these anti-angiogenetic foods, and many others, work to fight cancer, please see my previous article: Dramatically Effective New Natural Way to Starve Cancer and Obesity.

Recommended Fruits and Vegetables for Weight Loss in Women

Dieticians and Nutritionists recommend the following fruits and vegetables for weight loss in women, because these fruits and veggies are rich in microand macro nutrients and have very low calorific content. Leafy green vegetables and fruits do not add fats and calories and at the same time pacifies hunger, provides rich volume of food and provides less chance for foods with high calories content and fats.
In general, according to evidence based research, plant based foods such as fruits and veggies prevent overeating as it is nutritionally rich and loaded with all essential Vitamins, minerals. Generally, 2 to 3 serving’s raw fruits and as snacking in between meals prevent the consumption of processed foods and helps to control food addiction of fast foods and processed foods, which are unhealthy, adding fats and promote weight gain and obesity.
On an average, the American Diet recommends 7% to 8% of fruits and veggies per day in overall diet for achieving weight loss and to improve overall general health. Leafy green vegetables help to reduce increased LDL cholesterol levels due to the presence of antioxidants. Fruits that contain pectin also bring down LDL cholesterol and increase HDL Cholesterol levels.
Recommended Fruits and Vegetables for Weight Loss Women include; Fruits such as Pineapples, Oranges, and Lemons are very rich in Vitamin C that burns off excessive fats and helps to flush out the same from the body and as such these fruits promote weight loss in women, when it is added in every day diet. Pears and Apples are loaded with dietary fiber known as pectin that prevent absorption of excess fats and control hunger, thus preventing intake of bad foods, and help to clear out fats from the body, thereby very helpful for weight loss in women, when it is added as snacking. Eating an apple every day prior to lunch or dinner helps to lose as much as 30% of weight in women according to research. Mannoheptulose, the sugar based enzyme found in Avocados fruits manage the storing fats in the body that lead to obesity. Hence inclusion of avocados in the regular diet helps for weight loss.
Among leafy green vegetables, broccoli and spinach play significant role for weight loss, as it boost the production and excretion of bile salts, which reduce enhanced LDL cholesterol levels. Antioxidants found in leafy greens eliminate free scavenging oxygen radicals and help to liquefy fats, thereby promote weight loss in women. Dieticians advise to take more fruits, greens and beans, which are very low calories content, having all vital nutrients and provide good volume of food content, that indirectly promote weight loss on long term basis.

FDA Approves 3 New Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes

Nesina, Kazano and Oseni each contain a new active ingredient aimed at boosting insulin production

HealthDay ON Jan 25, 2013 at 7:00PM

 

FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration late Friday approved three new medications to help people battle type 2 diabetes.
All three drugs contain a new active ingredient, alogliptin, either alone or in combination with other, previously approved medications. The newly approved drugs include Nesina (alogliptin), Kazano (alogliptin plus metformin) and Oseni (alogliptin plus pioglitazone), the FDA said in a news release.
"Controlling blood sugar levels is very important in the overall treatment and care of diabetes," Dr. Mary Parks, director of the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in the statement. "Alogliptin helps stimulate the release of insulin after a meal, which leads to better blood sugar control."
More than 24 million people in the United States are currently affected by type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked with obesity. In the type 2 form of the disease, people gradually develop resistance to insulin or fail to produce enough of the hormone, resulting in rising blood sugar levels. That can lead to other health problems, such as heart disease, vision problems and neural or kidney dysfunction.
The FDA urges that the new medications be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise to help bring diabetes under control. All of the drugs underwent study either as stand-alone products or used alongside standard diabetes medications such as sulfonyureas or insulin.
In the case of Nesina, the drug showed safety and effectiveness across 14 clinical trials, involving more than 8,500 patients, according to the FDA. The most common side effects included stuffy or runny nose, headache, and upper respiratory tract infections.
Kazano's safety and effectiveness were tested in four clinical trials involving more than 2,500 patients. Side effects included those seen with Nesina, as well as diarrhea, high blood pressure and back pain, the FDA said. The agency is also requesting that a "boxed warning" be included on Kazano's labeling, highlighting the potential risk of lactic acidosis (lactic acid buildup in the blood), which can occur in products containing metformin.
Oseni was studied in four clinical trials involving more than 1,500 patients, the FDA noted. Side effects were similar to those seen with Nesina, as well as back pain. Oseni's labeling will also carry a boxed warning, this time cautioning users about the risk for heart failure that accompanies drugs containing pioglitazone.
The drugs will also be subject to what are known as "post-marketing studies," aimed at spotting any emerging risks. For example, studies looking at heart and liver issues are mandated for Nesina, while studies focused on potential liver and pancreas problems are mandated for both Kazano and Oseni, the FDA said.
All three drugs are distributed by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America Inc., of Deerfield, Ill.

Aerobic Exercise, Hormones and Appetite

Dr. J offers his irreverent, slightly irrelevant, but possibly useful opinions on health and fitness. A Florida surgeon and fitness freak with a black belt in karate, he runs 50 miles a week and flies a Cherokee Arrow 200.

I have been a strong advocate for doing aerobic exercise, specifically running, for a long time! I do mine before eating anything in the morning because I do not want to break-the-fast of the fat-burning metabolism I’ve developed from this behavior. I do drink a small amount of coffee before running as that has been shown to increase stamina and calorie burn. As it turns out, this type of aerobic activity does more for me than just burning calories, it affects the hormones that control my appetite!
Four recent studies have looked into that interesting relationship of exercise, hormones and appetite.
The first study compared 19 women, who either ran (nine) or walked (10) on one day and then sat quietly for one hour on the next day. Appetite-affecting hormonal levels were then obtained from blood samples. At that point, the women were offered an unlimited buffet. Prior studies have demonstrated that exercise increases our ghrelin levels, the hormone known to stimulate hunger. However, after these women ran, even though their ghrelin level became higher, they actually ate several hundred fewer calories than they had used during their running. The researchers felt that the reason for this was due to an increase in other hormones that initiate satiety or feeling full after eating. These hormones signal the body that it has taken in enough fuel and mute the effect of the circulating ghrelin. However, neither sitting nor walking changed the blood levels of these satiety hormones, resulting in the individuals who walked consuming more calories than they had utilized.
A second study examined the effects of moderate exercise on eating with formerly overweight, sedentary men and women. The researchers gave volunteers milkshakes with some containing tasteless maltodextrin, which added 600 calories, and others without maltodextrin that only had 246 calories.
As a baseline, before beginning the exercise program, the subjects ate more at the buffet lunch and throughout the rest of the day after drinking the higher-calorie shake than when they were given the lower-calorie version. However, after three months of the exercise program, the subjects consumed fewer calories throughout the day even when they had the high-calorie shake than when drinking the lower-calorie one.
The study conclusion was that exercise “improves the body’s ability to judge the amount of calories consumed and to adjust for that afterward,” according to head researcher Catia Martins, a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Martins concluded, “You need to stick with the program for several months to truly fine-tune appetite control.”
Another study conducted at Purdue University looked into the appetite-control effects of aerobic exercise compared to weightlifting. Researchers rated participants’ hunger 10 minutes after either aerobics or weightlifting, followed by the subjects eating 30 minutes later. The aerobic exercisers rated lower hunger and consumed fewer calories than the weightlifters. Their conclusion was that aerobic exercise reduced hunger ratings but weight lifting did not.
Finally, a fourth study from Brigham Young University confirmed that aerobic exercise is the best workout for adjusting food motivation. Researchers monitored the neural activity of both normal-weight and obese women while they looked at images of either food or flowers after a 45-minute period of hard aerobics. This exercise resulted in diminished brain responses to the food images, and an increase in total physical activity throughout the day for all the women regardless of body weight.
All of these studies demonstrate that aerobic exercise appears to help your body adjust to the amount of calories it really needs. For you to have this appetite control, however, you must make aerobic activity a consistent part of your healthy lifestyle.

Preventing Kidney Disease May Cut Diabetes Deaths, Study Says

 

THURSDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- For people with type 2 diabetes, the key to living a long and healthy life may lie in avoiding kidney disease, now that new research finds the combination is particularly lethal.
The study found that 10-year mortality rates for people with both type 2 diabetes and kidney disease is more than 31 percent. But for people with only type 2 diabetes, the death rate after a decade was 12 percent. For those with neither condition, the 10-year death rate was about 8 percent.
"We've all been trained to think of type 2 diabetes as a bad thing, but it's particularly bad when you get kidney disease, too," said study author Dr. Maryam Afkarian, a kidney specialist and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.
On the other hand, "We found that type 2 diabetes may not affect mortality as much if you don't get kidney disease," she said.
Results of the study are published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
People with type 2 diabetes do not produce or properly use insulin, a hormone needed to convert food into energy. In the United States, about 26 million people have diabetes, and the number is growing. Type 2 diabetes has long been associated with an increased risk of death, especially from cardiovascular disease. And kidney disease is common in people with type 2 diabetes.
To better understand how the two diseases behave together, the researchers reviewed 10 years of data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, involving more than 15,000 people. About 42 percent of people with type 2 diabetes had kidney disease, they found.
When the researchers controlled the data to account for factors such as age, sex and body-mass index -- a calculation based on height and weight -- as well as duration of diabetes, the rates of death remained high for people with kidney disease and diabetes, at about 23 percent. The 10-year mortality for those with only type 2 diabetes was 9 percent when the data was adjusted for such factors, while the rate of death for people without diabetes or kidney disease was about 3 percent.
"As we expected, those with diabetes and kidney disease had a lot higher risk of mortality," said Afkarian.
"Clearly, we're not at the point of stopping type 2 diabetes," she said, "so the next question becomes, 'What happens if we can keep the kidneys healthy?'"
She said prevention efforts should focus on people who have diabetes but not kidney disease. "Try to control your risk factors to prevent kidney disease," she suggested. And, the biggest risk factor is uncontrolled blood sugar.
However, there also is a genetic component to developing kidney disease, she said. So, if you have those genes, you may develop kidney disease even if your blood sugar is well-controlled. But for most people with type 2 diabetes, controlling blood sugar levels can help prevent kidney disease, or at least slow its progression, she said.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the Clinical Diabetes Center at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, approved of the analysis. "It shows that once someone is sick, it's a bad marker," he said.
"We always have to emphasize much more on prevention. There's a nice correlation between A1C (a long-term measure of blood sugar control) and kidney disease. And people without high blood pressure tend to do better," he noted.
The problem, he said, is that it's often "a long time before people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and when they are diagnosed, they're often undertreated, which leads to uncontrolled diabetes."
Zonszein said many people with type 2 diabetes who should be taking cholesterol and blood-pressure lowering medications aren't on them. Afkarian said people who have both type 2 diabetes and kidney disease should be monitored more closely by their physicians.
It's important to remember that it's much easier to prevent kidney disease than to stop it once it's begun, Afkarian said.
"There's a long time to intervene before kidney disease sets in," she said. "It can make all the difference in the world."

10 Simple Things You Can Do to Lose Weight

J Engle | January 24, 2013 

Losing weight is one of the most difficult tasks to do, especially if your goal is to lose more than 5 to 10 pounds. Sometimes making small lifestyle changes will gain you the greatest rewards.
Too often, dieters will leap right into a less than thought out diet plan that will re-arrange their whole lifestyle, including what they eat, and they don’t stick to it because it creates too much difficulty in their lives.
Willpower is NOT the issue here. “Willpower is about depriving yourself, and nobody gets excited about that,” says Cynthia Sass, a nutritionist with the University of South Florida in Tampa and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “Besides, depriving yourself is depressing and leads to bingeing. Focus on the positives–you feel better, have more energy when you eat healthy.”

Changing Habits to Lose Weight

Losing the weight does not have to be stressful or difficult… just a few simple changes in habit can make a big difference.

1. Weigh Yourself

The best time to weigh yourself is when you wake up each morning. After climbing out of bed, get on the scale and log your weight immediately. Weighing yourself each morning can create a mental feedback system to see what you are doing right and what needs improvement… doing this each morning should be a motivational tool.
Keep in mind that your weight may fluctuate from day-to-day, so don’t allow yourself to get caught up in disappointment if you don’t like your results.

2. Plan your meals

Planning your meals is probably the #1 thing you can do to lose the weight and keep it off. Start with a calorie calculator to find your daily calorie intake which will be an ‘Estimate’ for the amount of calories needed to maintain your current weight.
Begin by deciding your weight loss goal… if you want to lose 1 pound per week, you will want to cut 500 calories each day from your diet (3500 calories is equal to 1 pound of fat)… 2 pounds a week, you will need to cut 1000 calories each day… you get the idea. If you want to lose more weight on the average than this amount, you will need to include some exercise.
Once you have figured out how many pounds a week you would like to shed and what your optimum calorie intake should be, you will want to plan your meals for the day, week, etc. Example: if you have a target calorie intake of 2200 calories, you should find meals that are within the 450 calorie range for each of your 4 meals (8am, 11am, 2pm and 6 pm, for example), with a couple of 200 or less calorie snacks. You will need to experiment to find your best way of distributing your calorie intake.
The key to sticking to your routine is to have a list of your meals and snacks that are within your caloric range and that are interchangeable… don’t let yourself deviate from your plan.
Planning your daily meal routine may take some time to figure… for some help, visit the website that will help you personalize your weight loss plan. Visit FitDay.com for a Free Account.
HEALTHY TIP: The majority of dieters successful at losing weight AND keeping it off all have one thing in common, they eat breakfast every day. “Eating breakfast helps you spread out your hunger and manage your food intake better throughout the day,” Dr. James O. Hill, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. “If you start out the day by eating something, you don’t get this burning hunger later that causes you to overeat.” When you skip breakfast it also slows down your metabolism. Best menu: yogurt, fruit, whole-grain cereal, and low-fat milk.

3. Plan Healthy Snacks

Eating fruits and vegetables are essential for keeping your body healthy and will help it function properly. Did you know that 72% of adults don’t get enough vegetables, and 83% of adults don’t eat enough fruit on a daily basis?
A benefit for eating fruits and vegetables is that they are low in calories and fat. These nature-made foods are critical for losing weight! These fruits and vegetables will fill you up, provide healthy antioxidants and fiber, and are low in calories.
Not a fresh fruit or vegetable lover? Try yogurt, dried fruit or similar snacks… these are also good, healthy choices. The more you feel full, the more easily it will be to maintain your diet and lose the weight.
Don’t find yourself rushing to the vending machine each time you are feeling hungry… plan your in-between meal, healthy snacks.

4. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Naughty

Be sure to plan in some Not-So-Healthy foods and snacks too. Following a strict diet can be overwhelming and annoying at times. One of the main reasons diets fail is that people will crave the ‘NOT SO GOOD FOR YOU’ junk food type of snacks or meals. Don’t deprive yourself… be realistic and plan for those ‘Naughty’ for you foods.
Just make sure that you count the calories and monitor your portion size. The fast-food restaurants will usually have websites that have the calories contained in their foods, so choose wisely.

5. Eat Smaller Portions

Make your best attempt to eat portions no bigger than the size of your fist (your stomach is usually the around the size of your fist). This quantity of food should be enough to make you stop feeling hungry. Eating more than the size of your stomach will stretch it, which will make it difficult to feel full in the future.
Follow the guidelines below for a more sensible serving size:

• A healthy serving size of protein would be the equivalent size to your computer mouse.
• Two cups of mixed greens should be about the size of two baseballs.
• A serving of fruit the size of a tennis ball.
• A serving of butter or cheese the size of a dice.

If you are still hungry, wait for at least 20 minutes before you eat any more, and most likely your hunger will go away.
HEALTHY TIP: If you eat 4 or 5 times daily, your metabolism will increase which will aid in the digestion of your foods.

6. Eat S – L – O – W – L – Y

If you consume your meals quickly, you most likely are overeating because of it. It takes a while for your brain to get the MEMO that you are FULL. I’m sure you have had the feeling “I’ve eaten way too much!” feeling before, and it’s usually due to eating too fast. It may not be a walk in the park, but you need to train yourself to eat slowly, you will get full on less food.
Another benefit of eating slowly would be to give your digestive system the opportunity
to digest all the food that you consume. If you eat more than your body can handle, the chances are that your system will not have enough time to digest the extra food that you have eaten, so it will sit there and turn into fat.

7. Exercise 5-10 Minutes a Day

The best way to lose the weight, boost your metabolism and boost your mood is to exercise. Many people think that this means joining a gym, starting an aerobic work-out routine or begin running. NOT so… the fact is that simple exercising will burn calories, which over time, can put you ahead of your weight loss goals.
Simple things like going for a 5-10 minute walk, a few times a day, can help you lose the weight, increase muscle, and help you look & feel better.
Our recommendation would be to start small (a 5 minute walk each day), and work your way to longer walks, 2 or more times a day. You might even find the urge to do a few push ups, jumping jacks or take up jogging… you won’t know until you try.

8. Drink Plenty of Water

There are many benefits to drinking water while trying to lose weight. Water can make you feel full without all the calories… it is the perfect weight loss drink.
Sodas, coffee, juices etc., are filled with calories, among other things. Don’t be fooled with good-for-you drinks like fruit juices and lemonade because they are not normally low in calories, plus are filled with sugars that your body does not need. High calorie drinks are high on the list for one of the main reasons for the increase in obesity.
Your cells need water in order to metabolize the foods you consume. Your muscles need water to function properly. When your body is deprived of water, it will store what it has in your ankles, hips, thighs and around your belly. As soon as it starts receiving a normal supply of water, it will get rid of the excess reserved water weight.

9. Eat Dinner at Home

Eating out is nice because it gives us the chance to hang up our apron and be pampered. Restaurants serve meals that are usually high in fat and calories and also normally come in portions much bigger than we need.
Eating dinner away from home should be a treat and not a common practice. It is not too difficult to create a masterpiece dinner at home… follow the link for some scrumptious low calorie recipes that you can create in your own kitchen.

10. Learn ALL You Can About Weight Loss/ this is the most important

Begin by researching to find the right diet plan for you. Even after you have begun your diet regiment, continue to learn all you can about proper dieting and healthy eating habits.
Any time you start to second guess your mission and what you are making all the sacrifices for, read some articles about other people’s successful weight loss stories, weight loss tips, exercise or healthy eating habits. This will help you keep your focus and motivation to continue. If you lose your focus, you will lose your motivation and soon stop your weight loss progress all together.

Closing Comments for Successful Long Term Weight Loss

Getting through the first few days may be the toughest making it easy to give in, so remind yourself why you are doing this. Remind yourself with those 4 little words, “I Can Do This!” After the few days pass, it will start to get easier and it will seem like less and less deprivation.
One thing that we do know is that healthy, lasting weight loss does not happen overnight. We can all lose weight quickly, but keeping it off is the trick. What you need is a weight loss plan that will help you keep the weight off once you’ve lost it.
If the right plan if followed, anything is possible!
NOTE: Before starting any weight loss programs please consult your physician. This article is meant to inform and is not intended to suggest a cure for a person being overweight or obese. The owners of 90DaysHealth.com cannot be responsible for any results that may come from following these recommendations.
The END!