Over the holiday’s I’ve heard and seen some alarming stuff… adore soda is the prominent beverage, already rotund people hovering over food that should be particular poison to their already overweight body. These same people are having major health problems. Now I realize it’s the holidays and most of us get outmost of our "normal" eating habits. I’m maiden to realize many people no matter how well educated aren’t educated at all moment healthy nutrition.

I have found many won’t make the change for their own health, but might if they knew the habits they have formed bequeath opine a huge impact on their to come generations.

The health of today’s spawn is in menace. "In the persist in 10 years, diabetes in heirs has doubled; there’s a growing corpulence epidemic among children, also we’re as heart disease originate direction children," says Joel Fuhrman, M.D., family physician in Flemington, N.J., and basis "Eat now Health and "Disease-Proof Your Child."

The consequences are thereupon dire, in fact, that health authorities are now predicting that this generation of children will be the peerless to have a shorter stunt span than their parents. So what habits are putting kids in jeopardy?

Fuhrman pulled together the 10 worst offenders but issues this warning: "Parents can’t force children to do anything they aren’t doing themselves, which is why parents also need to change their habits to ripen into surpassing role models."

1. Drinking soda
Soda is loaded with sugar (about 13 teaspoons per can) fabricated sweeteners, caffeine again withdraw calories (about 150 grease a regular soda). Plus, soda might come from blooming beverages cotton to milk or water and cause tooth decay. Bottom line: fairy soda from your child’s diet again replace legitimate with water, milk besides other healthy beverages.

2. Not exercising
Today’s kids are cool inactive lifestyles, putting them at risk whereas cancer, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.
Bottom line: Make live movement since chief for your kids as brushing their teeth. By instilling the exercise constitution in them when they’re young, they’ll serve more forthcoming to base with it as adults. Just remember that kids learn by example, so get engaged with them.

3. Eating processed and barbecued meats
Your kids knack love baloney sandwiches and hamburgers, but processed and barbecued meats presume true been linked to cancer, especially colon cancer.
Bottom line: Steer your kids clear of this kind of meat, besides instead, personality them on to supplementary healthy, wholesome foods appreciate fruits, veggies, beans, nuts and seeds.

4. seeing overweight
While it endowment put on vogue to be perilous — roughly 16 percent of kids aged two to 19 are obese, according to the Centers for Disease oversee and Prevention — that extra weight could plunge into your child serious health problems, including diabetes, seat disease and cancer.
Bottom line: Clean up your diet, further your family will follow. Likewise, emerge as a native exerciser, further encourage your children to wind up more active.

5. Not eating enough fruits and veggies
Fruits and veggies are loaded with disease-fighting nutrients, which is why kids who don’t eat enough are at greater risk for spreading cancer and other chronic health conditions.
Bottom line: Make fruits and veggies the buttress of meals, and your kids will easily bring about the servings they need. Check MyPyramid.gov to routine pursuance and veggie requirements because kids or lick AOL Health’s handy Veggie and Fruit Tracker to calculate habitual requirements.

6. Too umpteen hours ropes front of the TV
Watching TV again playing recording games are sedentary activities that buoy snacking further often replace it activity. TV viewing also exposes your kids to menacing behaviors like baking and drinking, which could interest them.
Bottom line: Limit your kids’ use of the TV and computer. Children under two years invalid should not watch TV, bout kids over two should be limited to no supplementary than two hours of media time a day, per the American Academy of Pediatrics.

7. Noshing sugary treats and foods
Your kids understanding shakedown gaga over treats, but they’re nutrient-poor, calorie-laden foods. superlatively are also made with refined grains, which count on been linked to cancer. Plus, the more your kids eat these, the more they could bring about craving them, which could eventually boost their weight.
Bottom line: Limit sugar in your children’s diet owing to much considering easy. prohibition sugary cereals, cookies and candy from your larder. whence shift a savvy label reader, looking since unknown sugars connections contrivance from granola bars toketchup and even pasta sauces. To impress a well-seasoned tooth, serve fruit as a dessert or a snack.

8. Eating fast food
"Fast handout is for parents who don’t deadweight about their kids," Fuhrman says. By buying them fast food, you’re giving them the lowest appearance food, which adds calories, fat again painless nutrition to their diets. The end result? You could wind up with an overweight, ticklish lad. Plus, if they’re eating fried foods or food cooked at exquisite temperatures, they’re noshing cancer-causing compounds.
Bottom line: Boycott all fast food.

9. Not getting enough vitamin D
Vitamin D lack has been linked to dozens of health conditions, including rickets, osteoporosis, cancer, target disease and diabetes. Sunshine is the best creation of vitamin D, but most kids don’t spend enough hours outside to get all they liking. Plus, if you live agency a northern climate, getting enough vitamin D command the winter can be impossible.
Bottom line: Make concrete your daughter is obtaining 400 IU of vitamin D conventional through a multivitamin and/or vitamin D supplement.

10. Filling up on food made with white flour
White flour has zero nutritional value, which is why Fuhrman believes it should be banned from foods. "White flour’s been linked to corpulence also cancer-causing cell development," he says.
Bottom line: Don’t buy viand made cover white flour. Instead, garner 100 percent whole-grain goods.

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Heart ache is a analgesic that does not discriminate amid men and women or even the assorted cultures or socioeconomic backgrounds. In fact, it has been alleged a accepted analgesic because added humans die from affection ache anniversary year than added illnesses – several actor a year worldwide! With some people, affection ache is not even a bleep on their alarm because they don’t even apperceive they accept it! Others accept a array of bloom problems and apperceive they are at greater accident than the boilerplate being for affection ache because of those problems.

Knowing what the accident factors are can abundantly advice in abbreviation your affairs of developing affection disease. While there are acceptable dozens of accidental causes, there are six top accident factors for affection ache – with several that you can do something about. Here they are:

1. Hypertension – Aswell accepted as top claret pressure, hypertension is one of the arch contributors to affection disease. Why, you may ask? Claret accountability basically is a admeasurement of the force of the claret flow. The greater that force is, the added acceptable it is to could cause problems, abnormally if added factors exist. The best hypertension goes absolved the added acceptable you are to advance hardening of the arteries, agglomeration of the affection beef and abundant more. Diet and exercise can lower hypertension but sometimes medications are all-important to help.

2.Smoking – A nicotine addiction can be activity controlling. Smoker can advance the accumulating of blubbery deposits in the claret which can advance to arterial blockage and affection disease. It aswell promotes assimilation of the arteries which requires the affection to pump harder to advance oxygen through the physique and after-effects in hypertension.

3. Diabetes – This metabolic ache affects how insulin is produced and captivated in the body. Humans with diabetes accept a greater adventitious of developing several altitude that advance to affection ache such as assimilation of the arteries, arterial accident and hardening of the arteries. This action can aswell affect the muscles, of which the affection is one of the a lot of important ones.

4. Top cholesterol – Cholesterol is important to the physique as it is a all-important basic for the advantageous lining of physique beef and claret vessels. You get cholesterol from foods as able-bodied as accustomed alarmist function. Even if you eat around no cholesterol, your physique should be able to aftermath abundant to abundantly sustain advantageous beef and claret vessels. Therefore, abacus added cholesterol via the diet can addition cholesterol above accustomed banned in the blood. As this happens, applique will physique up forth the arterial walls causing not alone hardening of the arteries but aswell narrowing. Accidental to affection ache by agreement added burdens on the affection to pump harder to get oxygen and nutrients to the body.

5. Obesity – Being badly ample contributes to a array of added factors which in about-face can advance into affection disease. Obesity agency that you are acceptable to accept college cholesterol levels, problems with insulin assembly and assimilation (diabetes issues) and more. If you lose the weight, beneath poundage removes some of the accountability on your physique and reduces affection ache risk.

6. Ancestors analysis – Unfortunately, there is annihilation you can do about ancestors history and ability appear affection disease. What you can change is how you reside your life. A acceptable diet low in fats and cholesterol and top in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and added affection advantageous substances can go a continued way appear preventing the development of affection ache in you. Add apple-pie active (no smoker or alcohol) and exercise and you accept a acceptable trifecta adjoin affection disease.

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I don’t have any doubt in understanding, that readers of this article have spent a lot of time, money and energy in following different weight loss programs. But have not reaped any fruit out of that. They are unable to understand the reason of their failure. If from today you want to succeed in weight loss goals and then maintaining that weight, keep reading.

Those who succeed in weight loss say that when they stopped listening to the myth that cover weight loss and started following a healthy lifestyle they were successful in losing weight. Listed below are 6 weight loss myths versus the actual facts.

Eating fat makes fat

We have never seen any body that was able to lose weight by switching himself from regular sweat ice-cream to the low fat one. Reason behind this is that it is not the “fat” that makes one fat. These are the calories which are responsible for weight gain.

Snacking cause to gain weight

The truth is that taking several small meals throughout the day are far better than taking 3 bigger meals in a day. They maintain a steady metabolism and sugar levels throughout the day.

Water flushes away fats

The energy level of the person trying to lose weight suffers if somebody is dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water is essential for a healthy weight loss. But the water only flushes away the toxins and the retained water from the body. It does not flush away the fats.

Grapefruit burns out the fat

Grapefruit is enriched with vitamin C. No doubt the grapefruit is worth eating but only as a part of varied diet. Alone grapefruit cannot burn fat. In fact no food can do this. These foods can only boost the metabolism.

Weight loss supplements

If some weight loss supplement promises to shed off the pound without doing any other thing then this supplement is a scam. No doubt you’ll lose weight with the help of this supplement. But to maintain that weight you have to make changes in your lifestyle.

High Protein and low carbohydrate diets

When you do not provide the carbohydrates to the body the body tends to take them from the fats. As a result there is weight loss. But you cannot deprive yourself from carbohydrates for a longer period of time. You will start to feel tired and lethargic. One should never follow the weight loss program which says that fruits and vegetables are not good for the body.

So next times when you go through these weight loss myths put a deaf ear on them and keep the facts in your mind. This will assure you a better and healthier weight loss.

Source : neweasyweightloss.com

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It’s getting close to the New Year, when the vast majority of Americans resolve to lose weight.

But before you even think about starting a diet to drop pounds fast, I’ve compiled a list of the worst diets around so you won’t waste your time on them. This list isn’t just my opinion, either; I sought the help of registered dietitians who are members of the Weight Management Dietetic Practice group of the American Dietetic Association. Here are the nominees:

Raw Food Diet
Eating raw is based on trying to get the majority of your calories from unprocessed and uncooked foods. Rawists believe that eating foods above 116°–118° F will destroy enzymes that provide many health benefits. While most dietitians would agree that eating lots of minimally processed fruits, vegetables, and grains is best, we also understand that processing actually boosts the bioavailability of several key nutrients, primarily the phytonutrients, and inactivates some of the unhealthy compounds.

The raw food diet is rich in all plant-based foods including fruits and vegetables; nuts and seeds; and sprouted seeds, grains, and beans. Don’t get me wrong; these ingredients are great—and you can make plenty of meals (here are five delicious ones) using these guidelines. But following this type of diet to a T requires a lot of complicated food preparation—creating pine nut and yeast “cheese,” for example—that makes it impractical for most working women.

I have had plenty of experience with raw foods because I live in Marin County, Calif., where Roxanne Klein, the coauthor of Raw, started Roxanne’s Fine Cuisine, a line of pricey prepared raw food creations available at our Whole Foods and other high-end supermarkets. I’ve tried several of the items but have found them to be extremely expensive and not very tasty—certainly nothing I could follow for more than a day or two at most.

As a “flexitarian” and part-time vegan, I know that eating lower on the food chain can help promote weight loss, but I also know that caloric content is not related to the heated treatment of food. Skip the raw food diet, and eat more healthful whole foods—cooked or raw—to help whittle your waist, not your wallet.

Next: Injections with what?

Source : eating.health.com

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You wouldn't want to be suffering from embarrassment caused by having bad breath, right? Well, we all do. And that's why we always want to make sure that our breath is fresh and our mouth is always clean. Yeah, proper oral hygiene is the key to keeping bad breath at bay. But, guess what? Just merely having an oral regimen is not enough to fight off anaerobic bacteria. You need to have proper knowledge of this condition so you'll know exactly what to do whenever bad breath strikes. Yes, bad breath disease can strike from time to time. And it's what you should be prepared for.

The first thing that you need is know what bad breath disease really is. There are lots of resources out there where you can find complete information about halitosis, or what commonly known as bad breath. You can search the internet, read some books and magazines about oral health or you can go directly to your dentist and ask about it. And along with finding information about bad breath, you will also learn about the different things that may cause bad breath.

So what are the culprits? Here are some:

• Tooth Decay – if one or two of your teeth have decay, you can expect to have unpleasant breath odor.

• Periodontal Disease – also known as gum disease; if you have any problem with your gums, you are most likely to have bad breath

• Plaque – when you have plaque or even some food particles between your teeth, there is a high risk that you will have bad breath

• Dry Mouth – we need saliva to wash out the foods in our mouth but if you have dry mouth, these food particles will remain there and cause unpleasant odor

• Tonsil or Throat Infection – some problems in the throat are also known to cause bad breath

If you are already suspecting that you have bad breath, it is better that you really consult a dentist. Your dentist will know what steps to take to solve your problem. Usually, a prophylaxis will be performed to see if dental plaque or food stagnation is the cause of bad breath. Now, in case there is no oral cause identified, you may need to visit other clinics that specialize in breath odor problems. Or maybe, you are just being too conscious about your breath and the problem is psychological.

But, you know what? Having a fresher breath actually depends on your oral hygiene and how you take care of yourself. The following are some of the things that you can do to keep your breath always smelling good;

• Don't just brush – plain brushing is not enough to clean the teeth and mouth; in addition, you need to floss or other special brushes as per your dentist's recommendation to make sure that hard-to-reach areas in the mouth are also cleaned thoroughly.

• Clean the tongue – dental experts recommend that you use tongue cleaners to clean your tongue up to the back areas since this is where odor-causing bacteria live.

• Mouthwash it – before sleeping or each time you can't brush after meal, it is advisable to use mouthwash.

• Proper diet – eating fresh and fibrous vegetables will help you maintain clean mouth all the time. Avoiding too much coffee will also help.

• Drink more water – drinking lots of water will help your body produce more saliva which is needed to flush the food particles in the mouth.

Source : worldmedicalguide.com

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Higher-protein meals may help overweight and obese people burn more fat, the results of a small study suggest.

Research has shown that overweight people are less efficient at burning fat after a meal than thinner people are. In the new study, Australian researchers looked at whether the protein composition of a meal affects that weight-related gap.

They found that overweight men and women burned more post-meal fat when they ate a high-protein breakfast and lunch than when they had lower-protein meals. That is, the added protein seemed to modify the fat-burning deficit seen in heavy individuals.

"Our research suggests that people with higher body fat burn fat better after a high-protein meal than people with lower levels of body fat," lead researcher Dr. Marijka Batterham, of the University of Wollongong in New South Wales told Reuters Health.

A number of studies have suggested that high-protein diets may help people shed weight more easily -- possibly, in part, because protein suppresses appetite better than fat or carbohydrates do.

The current study did not look at weight loss, so it's not possible to tell whether the increased fat-burning seen in overweight participants would translate into fewer pounds over time, Batterham said.

But answering that question, she said, will be the next step.

The findings, published in the journal Nutrition & Dietetics, are based on 18 adults whose post-meal metabolism was tested on 3 separate days. The average age was 40 years, eight subjects were overweight, six subjects had a normal weight, and four were obese.

More : uk.reuters.com

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What is it like to be sick outside of the United States?

Well, if you are among the 47 million uninsured or 25 million underinsured in America, health care in capitalist democracies such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Great Britain or Taiwan is decidedly better than the broken system we have here.

Switzerland requires all its citizens to have coverage.

In Germany, co-payments are only $15 every three months. In Japan, health insurance is private and patients can see a specialist whenever they like.

In Great Britain, doctors get bonuses for improving their patients' health. Taiwan stores its citizens' medical histories on electronic cards, which slashes administrative costs.

And in none of these countries do people go bankrupt because of unpaid medical bills.

How do I know this? Because I was at the state's first house party for the Frontline documentary "Sick Around The World," a screening organized by the Tennessee Health Care Campaign and the Tennessee Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program. Retired doctor Art Sutherland is the president of the latter group, and Wednesday night he brought about 30 people into his East Memphis home.

These were people who, for the most part, have health insurance. For them, a lack of health care does not -- at least not today -- force them to choose between medicine or food.

But they realize that for too many Tennesseans, including the estimated 14 percent who are uninsured, the lack of health care is a matter of life and death.

There is no perfect system -- not in any of the countries featured in the documentary, nor in any country in the world. In fact, the documentary made clear that most of the foreign systems don't bring in enough money to cover the costs.

Unlike Michael Moore's "Sicko," this documentary isn't a politically charged indictment against America as much as it is a call to glean universal health care lessons from our global neighbors.

After all, if Taiwan can insure all its citizens, why can't we?

Why don't we?

"It's a really hard sell that health care is a right," said Charlotte Borst, a Rhodes College history professor on sabbatical this year. "To me, that's the biggest issue."

Once we agree that health care is a right, everything else, Borst believes, is just a matter of figuring out the details of a universal health care system.

One of those who viewed the hourlong documentary was Sandy Arnold, a pediatrician at Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center and formerly a doctor in Canada.

"It's part of the Canadian national identity," Arnold said, that health care for all is a right, and one of the values that distinguishes them from their neighbor to the south.

And therein lies America's rub. We believe the government is responsible for providing every child an education, and everyone police protection, even that an ambulance should attend to your emergent medical needs.

But the right to health care? In America? It's not yet part of our national identity.

Shifting that tide -- and winning the inevitable fight with the health care and pharmaceutical industries -- could take years.

But in the meantime, Sutherland and Emily Snyder, West Tennessee coordinator for the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, hope that voters educate themselves on Sens. John McCain's and Barack Obama's health care proposals before heading to the polls. (Get a side-by-side comparison of the presidential candidates' ideas at health08.org.)

"The United States needs to use its American ingenuity and use the sense of fairness I think we still have to solve this," Sutherland said.

To get involved

The local organizing group of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign meets next at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Memphis Center for Independent Living, 1633 Madison. The group meets on the third Thursday of each month, same time and place.

For more information about the organization or hosting your own house party to screen "Sick Around The World," contact Emily Snyder, the West Tennessee coordinator for the Tennessee Health Care Campaign (thcc2.org), at esnyder@thcc2.org or 590-4873.

We believe the government is responsible for providing every child an education ... But the right to health care? In America? It's not yet part of our national identity.

source : commercialappeal.com

 

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There’s a reason I’m starting this article with the mitochondria.They’re the part of the cell that creates energy, the very foundation of cellular rejuvenation. A young cell is characterized by optimal energy production.

Slow down that production, and you begin the aging process. The goal, therefore, is to rev up your cellular metabolism—the chemical and physiological processes by which the body builds and maintains itself and by which it breaks down food and nutrients to produce energy.

To understand the concepts of cellular metabolism and rejuvenation, we need to understand the inner workings of the cell—in particular, the mitochondria, sometimes called the “cellular power plants” because they metabolize food-derived chemicals to produce energy.

Mitochondria are responsible for converting nutrients and oxygen into the energy-yielding molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to fuel the cell’s activities.Without energy, the cell can no longer repair itself, resulting in cellular breakdown.

One of the things that makes the mitochondria unique is that they have their own set of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecules.We are all familiar with DNA, which is the material inside the nucleus of cells that carries genetic information.

But what many people are not aware of is that the mitochondria also contain DNA, above and beyond the DNA found in the nucleus of the cell. Unfortunately, the primary site of damage to the cell is in the DNA found in the mitochondria. The DNA in the mitochondria is at exceptional risk because of the free radicals produced in this tiny furnace during energy production. The cell automatically fixes much of the damage done to nuclear DNA; however, the DNA in the mitochondria cannot be as readily fixed. Therefore, extensive DNA damage accumulates over time and shuts down the mitochondria, causing the cells to die
and the organism to age.

There have been many theories of aging; one of the most significant is the free-radical theory proposed by Denham Harman, M.D., Ph.D.A free radical is a molecule that is missing an electron in its outer orbit. Dr. Harman first suggested that free radicals alter the molecular structure of the cell, causing damage to the cell. They do this by stealing their missing electron from other molecules to complete their outer orbit. In other words, free radicals are molecules that want to join with other molecules, and by doing so they cause cellular damage.

As is often the case with pioneering work in the scientific worlds, Dr. Harman’s theories were essentially ignored for decades. However, scientists now recognize and acknowledge the importance of free radicals in the aging process. It is also well established that free radicals play an active role in very diverse, age-related diseases.

 

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Massachusetts health insurance coverage is available and affordable to 95 percent of the state's taxpayers. Only 5 percent of the taxpayers don't have health insurance in Massachusetts. Perhaps a good path for other states to follow when doing health insurance reforms.

About 95 percent of adults filing health care information with tax returns have health insurance coverage; majority of filers complying with health reform filing requirements, show the numbers provided by Massachusetts Department of Revenues.

Figures released today by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue show that an overwhelming majority of adult tax filers are covered by health insurance.

A DOR analysis concludes that 95 percent of 3.34 million adults filing health insurance information with their tax returns for tax year 2007 have health coverage, reinforcing demonstrated progress toward the goal of enrolling all state residents in health insurance.

Under the health care reform legislation passed in 2006, most tax filers are required to indicate to revenue officials through their tax filings whether or not they have health insurance coverage. Tax year 2007 was the first year for DOR to enforce the individual mandate through the collection of personal income taxes, for which a new state form, Schedule HC, was developed.

For the first year of implementation, taxpayers overwhelmingly complied with the health insurance tax filing requirement. Only 1.4% of tax filers required to file health insurance information with their tax returns failed to comply.

While 95% of filers have health coverage, just over 2.5 percent (about 86,000 tax filers) indicated they could have afforded coverage but chose not to obtain it, resulting in a loss of their personal exemption ($219 for an individual).

Slightly less than 2 percent (about 62,000 tax filers) said they could not afford health insurance based on affordability schedules established by the Connector and were not subject to the penalty.

The numbers reported today are based on a review of the data from 86 percent of expected total tax filings for tax year 2007. More than 200,000 taxpayers have filed for extensions and will not have their returns processed until after the October filing deadline. The figures released today do not include children or those who do not file tax returns and is subject to subsequent verification.

Penalties for those who can afford health insurance but choose not to obtain it accrue monthly in 2008, and can tally as much $912 for a full year without coverage. DOR is currently mailing individuals who lacked health insurance in 2007 but could have afforded coverage to highlight the higher penalties and provide information on opportunities for finding affordable coverage.

 

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Twice a day, 7-year-old Hannah Austin exhales all the air from her lungs. She then takes a puff of a low-dose steroid from a purple inhaler, holds her breath for a few seconds and exhales.

Like nearly 7 million other children in the United States, Hannah, a second-grader from Smyrna, Georgia, has asthma. This simple exercise with the inhaler allows her to breathe easier.

But on a day when the air quality is poor, she often struggles to catch her breath. "We know that environmental pollutants have a very significant impact on children with asthma," said Dr. Avril Beckford, a pediatrician in Austell, Georgia. Children are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution because their lungs don't fully form until they are adolescents, the American Academy of Pediatrics noted.

The leading pediatricians group added that "because children spend more time outdoors than do adults, they have increased exposure to outdoor air pollution." "If you live near a polluted area of a city, it's like the child is smoking," said best-selling author and pediatrician Bill Sears. "We all know what smoking does for the lungs."

Sears called the long-term effect of air pollution on a developing child devastating. "Children do not grow as well because they do not breathe as well. The brain really needs a lot of oxygen. They don't think as well. They don't learn as well."

Hannah's asthma was diagnosed last summer. Her mother, Drew Austin, became alarmed when she noticed that Hannah was short of breath while swimming. "When her asthma is really bad, she just gets lethargic and starts coughing," Austin said.

Coughing, wheezing or whistling when exhaling, and shortness of breath are some of the most common symptoms of asthma in children.

Sears warned that the symptoms can lead to poor sleep habits. "When the child wakes up in the morning with a runny nose and baggy eyes, you can tell they didn't sleep well because they were coughing in the night," he said.

Proper diagnosis and treatment can help manage asthma symptoms. Experts also recommend that people with asthma avoid indoor and outdoor allergens and irritants.

Indoor triggers include dust mites, mold, furry pets, tobacco smoke and certain chemicals.

Outdoor irritants range from pollen to cold air to air pollution.

Michael Chang, an atmospheric research scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, estimated that 50 percent of air pollutants are created by cars and trucks.

He explained many parts of the U.S. are now transitioning to higher temperatures and more humid summers.

"We don't have the winds that blow things out of the air," Chang said. "The stuff we put into the atmosphere lingers longer."

He compared the air quality in many big cities to a chemical soup of thousands of compounds, including ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter. The Environmental Protection Agency describes ground-level ozone as the primary component of smog. It includes motor vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, gasoline vapors and chemical solvents.

Chang's office is responsible for monitoring air quality and issuing smog alerts in Atlanta. He also tries to educate residents by telling them to pay attention to the warnings.

"Jogging late in the afternoon during the summer is not the best time," Chang said. "Ground-level ozone is at its worst at that time of day."

Beckford goes one step further, warning parents to not choose a house, school or playground that is close to a busy road or a highway.

source : cnn.com

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Vitamin supplements taken by millions of people do not increase life expectancy and may raise the risk of a premature death , according to a review of 67 studies with more than 230,000 subjects.

The review, by the Cochrane Collaboration which regularly pools data from trials to evaluate drugs and treatments, found supplements vitamin A, vitamin E and beta-carotene are detrimental to health. In 47 trials with 180,938 people and a low risk of bias, the "antioxidant supplements significantly increased mortality", the authors wrote. When the antioxidants were assessed separately and low risk of bias trials were included and selenium excluded, vitamin A was linked to a 16% increased risk of dying, beta-carotene to a 7% increased risk and vitamin E to a 4% increased risk.

Evidence for vitamin C and selenium was more equivocal, suggesting there was no benefit to taking these pills compared with a placebo.

"The bottom line is current evidence does not support the use of antioxidant supplements in the general healthy population or in patients with certain diseases," said Goran Bjelakovic, who performed the review at Copenhagen Universityhospital in Denmark. "There was no indication that vitamin C and selenium may have positive or negative effects. So regarding these we need more data from randomised trials."

All the supplements are categorised as antioxidants; research has suggested these chemicals underlie some of the beneficial effects of eating fruit and vegetables because they soak up harmful byproducts of metabolism which can damage cells and cause aging.

While the evidence of a beneficial effect of a diet rich in fruit and veg is solid, the Cochrane data suggest antioxidant supplements are either useless or detrimental.

Bjelakovic's team evaluated 67 randomised clinical trials with 232,550 subjects; 21 of the trials were on healthy subjects, while the rest tested patients with a range of diseases. The evidence suggests it would be safer to obtain the chemicals not as supplements but by eating plenty of fruit and vegetables.

source : guardian.co.uk

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Way before the sun peeks over the horizon, a few chosen people awaken from their slumber and dive head first into their day. These chosen few accomplish a ton before the rest of us would ever consider rising from our nice warm beds.

Who are these juggernauts that have command over the morning hours?

In theory, your productivity level shouldn't differ if you rise at 4am or 11am. What matters is the quality of sleep that's giving your mind and body sufficient time to recover.

These early rising juggernauts, these unstoppable agents of productivity, they see things differently. They see these early hours as their chance to lay claim to their share of the day. They rise with purpose, act with determination, and achieve ruthlessly.

The world is in awe of these special people, so let's take a look at what pops them out of bed like a toaster strudel and what gets them up, sometimes before the alarm!

1. Appointment With Waking: The harsh truth about the human body is that we're creatures of habit. In some ways this can be extremely inconvenient when trying to take on new things. However, if we allow ourselves to live within the rules of our body's natural cycle, which is a 24-hour circadian rhythm, we will be pleased with the body's functionality.
   This means that when you find a waking hour that will work best for you each day of the week, you should stick to it. This will allow your body to want to support you in your endeavor of waking up, and rise you out of bed feeling fresh as a daisy.
2. The King and The Pauper Way Of Eating: The way our bodies function optimally is if we eat like a king in the morning and a pauper in the evening. This means that it's best to eat heavier, bigger portions in the morning because these meals will give us high energy throughout the day and then burn off.
   Eating like a pauper, meaning small light meals, in the evening allows us to go to sleep on an empty stomach. If your body is functioning normally, and you don't have stomach ulcers, going to sleep on a mostly empty stomach will allow you to sleep better. This nightly fast allows your body to take it's focus away from digestion and put it towards repair and rejuvenation of the body's cells.
3. Living With Purpose: Young children will do anything to avoid going to sleep at night. These same children are also the ones that can't wait to get out of bed first thing in the world. The simple reason for this non-lazy behavior is that they don't want to miss a thing.
   As adults we may need more persuasion than 'not wanting to miss a thing'. This is why we take extra steps in creating fun, life changing goals, and scheduling specific ways of how we'll get a step closer to these goals during this coming day. What we all need is not necessary a cause we're willing to die for, but at least a cause we're willing to LIVE for.
4. Plan Your Day: We can say we're going to live with purpose, but unless we plan, we can tell ourselves that we'll start living with purpose next week, or the week after that. Planning is one of the fundamental ways to maximize your mind to achieve your goals, and as such it plays a critical role in allowing us to have an awesome day, everyday. We need not do more than take 15 minutes the night before to succinctly organize the next days schedule.
   A schedule complete with waking time, most important things of the day, eating and recreational allowances. Having a tight schedule allows me to live out my day with definitive purpose, while getting more done, having more fun, and not wasting precious moments of my life.
5. The Water Hack: A bit of water before bed and half a liter as soon as you get up. The water before bed will serve in the rejuvenation process we mentioned above. While you sleep all your cells will fill up with this fresh water and create an over all well being within your body.
   The water in the morning does two things. One is it provides your first dose of water to get your mind and body going. Another function, as told to me by my endocrinology teacher (a very qualified person to say this), is that a dose of water in the morning triggers a cascade of physiological functions that engages your digestive system and causes you to excrete feces. You'll feel nice and light first thing in the morning!
6. Work That Body: In number 1 above I mentioned that our bodies adapt around a 24-hour circadian rhythm. This works for sleep, eating, exercise, and many other bodily functions. We're a pretty efficient physiological machine when you think about it. This is why getting a dose of exercise is optimal in the morning. It gets the blood flowing and stimulates you to function on a higher level.

   Once you're used to this routine, your body will prepare by providing you with high energy before you start to work out. As you can see, if you wake up with this high energy, you're going to just pop out of bed.

7. Have 'Me' Time: No morning is completely satisfying unless you've scheduled in some 'Me' time. Whether you enjoy meditating to clear you mind and give you laser sharp focus, or reading to gain some new knowledge about the world, make sure you schedule in this time.
   There may very a variety of things you enjoy doing, so this will be custom tailored to the individual. The point is that when you have something you REALLY enjoy doing right when you get up, you won't be able to wait until that alarm goes off till you jump out of bed and get to it!

See, that's all it takes! Try it for a couple weeks, get used to it, and soon you'll be relishing sunrises like this:

source : dumblittleman.com

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Must. Stay. Awake. Yes, it's the 3 o'clock mantra. And who hasn't mumbled it while fighting off midday yawns and drooping eyes?

Fatigue and flagging energy seem to be epidemics, especially among women who burn the candle at both ends (and who doesn't?). Instead of moping, pump up your mojo with these 10 strategies from experts in sleep, fitness, nutrition, psychology, and alternative medicine.

1. See the light

Get the right light, and you'll have lots more energy. But that can be a challenge, given the poorly lit offices we sit in and the scant doses of daily sunlight (which contains brain-activating short-wavelength blue light) we get. "Our circadian rhythms are more sensitive to blue light than any other kind," says Mariana Figueiro, assistant professor at the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

To take advantage of that energizing blue boost, lift your shades the minute you get up or take a 30-minute walk first thing in the morning. And go outside as often as you can during the day (especially right before you need to be extra-alert), says Scott Campbell, Ph.D., director of the Human Chronobiology Laboratory at New York--Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in Westchester, New York. To up your blue light at work, use lamps with "natural" lightbulbs -- try Sylvania's Daylight Extra bulbs, an Ott-Lite, or a light box that uses blue-light technology.

2. Get pumped with protein

Unless you plan to run a marathon, carbo-loading for energy is out. Instead, eat protein to increase mental alertness and energy, says Debra Hollon, M.S., R.D., a clinical nutritionist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Protein contains tyrosine, an amino acid that elevates the brain chemicals dopamine and norepinephrine. It increases satiety, too. And when you feel fuller, you're not apt to overdo the breads and sweets that induce rollercoaster highs and lows.

Eat plant- and animal-based protein throughout the day -- an egg or high-protein cereal for breakfast, 10 almonds midmorning, a cup of low-sugar yogurt in the afternoon -- and your stamina should stabilize. Health.com: Get pumped with protein -- reconsider the egg

3. Lend a hand

Research shows that you get a "helper's high," a rush of endorphins that lasts for hours, when you volunteer, says Kimberly Kingsley, author of "The Energy Cure: How to Recharge Your Life 30 Seconds at a Time." You don't have to look far to help out, she says. "There may be a single mom in your family who needs a babysitter or a lonely neighbor who'd love to chat."

Judith Orloff, M.D., a Los Angeles-based psychiatrist and author of "Positive Energy: 10 Extraordinary Prescriptions for Transforming Fatigue, Stress, and Fear," agrees, and she often folds anonymous good deeds into her day. During her morning coffee run, she sometimes buys an extra cup of joe for a homeless person. "When you make someone happy, you feel filled up again," Orloff says. You can find volunteer opportunities that suit you at www.idealist.org.

4. Breathe hard -- more often

That post-workout rush of energy you feel is well-documented: Movement sends oxygen through the bloodstream to invigorate cells. That's why Gerald K. Endress, fitness director at the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, suggests that you break up your workouts to maximize your oxygen intake. Health.com: Best new ways to boost your metabolism

Lift weights, roll out the exercise ball, or do five minutes of yoga in the morning. Climb a few flights of stairs at lunch and jog after dinner. To add an extra kick to your workout, breathe deeply for your first one or two minutes of cardio, Endress says: Inhale from your belly; then breathe out slowly, imagining you're pulling your navel toward your spine. Health.com: The fast new way to walk off weight

5. Bag a new brew

Boost your energy with white tea, which has a delicate flavor that requires little sweetening. "Of all the teas, white tea goes through the least processing," says Iman Hakim, M.D., Ph.D., a professor at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona in Tucson and a leading researcher on the benefits of tea. As a result, white tea has the highest concentration of L-theanine, an amino acid that, according to recent research, stimulates alpha brain waves to boost alertness while producing a calming effect. And because a cup of white tea contains less caffeine (15 milligrams) than other teas (up to 50 mg) and coffee (120 mg), it's more hydrating, another key for sustaining energy.

6. Tackle the blahs in bursts

Shake up your routine for 15 minutes at a time to get an energy boost. Change your walking route, sample a new food, garden for a few minutes, or pick up a pencil and draw. "It's all about taking baby steps to replenish yourself," Orloff says.

Start small; tackling a really big new project may just pile on more stress. And think of your mini-task as a chance to renew, not another thing on your to-do list.

7. Get hands-on help

Could your energy be blocked? Hands-on therapies such as acupuncture and Reiki (pronounced ray-key), a Japanese massage technique, may help, says Eva Selhub, M.D., senior staff physician at the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. "These therapies may remove the blocks that create emotional and physical problems in our bodies," she says. "When the resistance is gone, energy flows." In fact, a recent British study published in New Scientist says acupuncture can relieve fatigue in cancer patients.

Don't have time for a 30-plus-minute session? Try self-acupressure. According to a recent finding by Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., research assistant professor at the University of Michigan Medical Center's Department of Internal Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan, there's a positive correlation between acupressure and increased alertness. His trick: Rub the muscle between your thumb and your forefinger for three to five minutes; you should feel a little ache there and then an overall sense of ahh. Health.com: Which massage is best for you?

8. Take a tech-free break

Being at the mercy of electronic devices keeps us in "fight-or-flight mode," Kingsley says. You get an adrenaline zap every time the cell phone rings or an e-mail comes in. Over time, living off adrenaline exhausts you. Cell phones, in particular, put increased stress on women, research shows.

Even though both men and women say that their cell phones allow job worries to affect their home lives, only women experience the opposite effect -- the spillover of home concerns into work. The solution: "Set boundaries at work and home," Kingsley suggests, "so your attention isn't always divided." Give yourself at least an hour a day when you completely unplug from electronic devices. That chance to check in and connect with yourself will re-energize you, she says.

9. Meditate for a minute

Time-crunched? Great news: You can reap the benefits of meditation -- a hike in alertness and attention -- in three-minute minibreaks. "They're like little tune-ups," Orloff says.

She recommends an a.m. session before you start your day and a noon meditation before that typical 3 o'clock crash hits. Find a quiet place (even if it's the bathroom) and mentally focus on an image that brings you pleasure: the ocean, a flower, the sun, your cat; continue to keep the image in your mind's eye as you breathe deeply (roughly 10 seconds for each inhale and exhale). With a little practice, Orloff says, you'll become more skilled at maintaining focus and can add more short meditations to your day, whenever you need revitalizing.

10. Clean up your sleep

The buzzword in sleep science these days is "sleep hygiene," and it's about more than clean sheets -- it helps you create an atmosphere that's restful, so you'll sleep well and wake up energized without the need for sleeping pills, Campbell says. Health.com: 3 secrets to a good night's sleep

Sleep hygiene usually includes three areas: fully darkening your bedroom (turn your alarm clock away from you if the display gives off too much light), regulating room temperature to a moderate coolness (too hot or too cold, and you'll wake up), and using white noise (a fan or quiet music) to help induce sleepiness.

source : cnn.com

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Knowing what to eat, and in what quantities, is becoming a real challenge, as nutritional scientists continue to study the healing powers of certain foods.

The latest discoveries, the so-called "super foods," are believed to have the ability to help you live longer, slow down the aging process and prevent diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

So are there really 14 items you must have each day to take advantage of the restorative power of food?

Probably not, said Ellie Krieger, host of Food Network's "Healthy Appetite With Ellie Krieger" and author of "The Food You Crave" (Random House, 2008), adding that you don’t have to limit yourself to specific foods.

She believes that maintaining good health means including certain food groups in your daily diet. Here are her top five:

1. Whole grains (3 servings) – This includes standards such as whole wheat bread and oatmeal; however, Krieger pointed out that you aren’t limited to just these choices.

"There are whole wheat burger buns out there that I’m really excited about because they’re soft, tender and mild-tasting. They don’t taste like whole wheat. There are also whole wheat tortillas and wraps."

In addition to breads, Krieger recommends trying whole grains such as brown rice, quinoa or bulgur.

The importance of including whole grains in your diet goes beyond just the need for fiber. When grain is refined, it’s stripped of its antioxidants and other vitamins and minerals. Some of these are put back in the enrichment process, but most aren’t.

2. Dark-green leafy vegetables (1 serving) – Spinach, kale and collard greens provide calcium and vitamins A, B and C. Krieger said that not only are these veggies powerhouses of vitamins and minerals, they’re also delicious — a more important consideration if you’re going to consistently include these foods in your diet.

She recommends sautéing spinach with garlic or shallots and adding a splash of balsamic vinegar and some pine nuts. Another tasty member of this food group, Swiss chard, is highly underrated, according to Krieger. "It’s easy to cook and very tender."

3. Nuts and seeds (1 ounce, which is 1/3 cup) – Almonds are great sources of vitamin E, sesame seeds provide the body with calcium and walnuts contain omega-3 fats. Nuts and seeds also are sources of magnesium and other minerals most of us don’t get enough of on a daily basis.

Krieger said that not only are they chock-full of nutrition, they also are very satisfying. "Eating a small snack of nuts is a good way to get a grip on your appetite and keep hunger at bay until your next meal."

Want a quick, easy way to incorporate nuts and seeds into your diet? Try putting them on salads.

4. Low-fat yogurt and milk (2 to 3 8-ounce servings) – Low-fat milk gives you the nutritional punch of whole milk without the calories. This source of vitamin D is a crucial factor in maintaining good bone health.

Not a big fan of drinking milk? Krieger said you don’t’ have to forego its nutritional benefits. Try drinking a small skim latte or adding a little chocolate syrup to a glass of skim milk. Adding a little skim milk to your tomato soup also works, Krieger said.

Yogurt has active cultures that aid the immune and digestive systems. Krieger recommended mixing it with a little mayonnaise and using it as a dressing base. One of her favorite ways to eat yogurt, especially in the warm weather, is with honey and fresh berries.

5. Tea (Up to 4 cups) – Both black and green teas are potent sources of antioxidants, according to Krieger. Tea also is a rich source of flavonoids, which some believe may prevent cancer and reduce inflammation. Scientists believe that inflammation is the start of many diseases.

Krieger added that there is one more beneficial effect to drinking tea that is not often discussed. "You sit down, relax and have a cup of tea. You take a moment, and that does a lot for the body."

source : foxnews.com

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A new brain-scan study may help explain what's going on in the minds of financial titans when they take risky monetary gambles - sex. When young men were shown erotic pictures, they were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler, university researchers reported.

The arousing pictures lit up the same part of the brain that lights up when financial risks are taken.

"You have a need in an evolutionary sense for both money and women. They trigger the same brain area," said Camelia Kuhnen, a Northwestern University finance professor who conducted the study with a Stanford University psychologist.

Their research appears in the current edition of the peer-reviewed journal NeuroReport.

The study only involved 15 heterosexual young men at Stanford University. It focused on the sex and money hub, the V-shaped nucleus accumbens, which sits near the base of the brain and plays a central role in what you experience as pleasure.

When that hub was activated by the erotic images, the men were far more likely to bet high on a random chance game that would earn them either a dollar or a dime. Each man made more than 50 gambles under brain scans.

Stanford psychologist Brian Knutson, a lead author of the study, says it's all about the power of emotion and arousal and our financial decisions. The trigger doesn't have to be sex - it could be chocolate or a winning lottery ticket.

"It didn't matter if the sexy woman didn't tell you anything about the odds of winning a roulette game," Knutson said. "What really matters is that the sexy woman is having an emotional impact. That bleeds over into your financial decisions."

Kuhnen said the same link could hold true for women, but they didn't test it because it is more difficult to find an erotic image that would appeal to many different heterosexual women compared to heterosexual men.

The link between sex and greed goes back hundreds of thousands of years, to men's evolutionary role as provider or resource gatherer to attract women, said Kevin McCabe, professor of economics, law and neuroscience at George Mason University, who wasn't part of the study.

"Risk-taking is a natural way of increasing your relative success, but, of course, there's a downside to it, what we're seeing right now in the economy," McCabe said.

The results of the study jibe with the real life on the trading floor, said Phil Flynn, a former Chicago commodities floor trader and current analyst at Alaron Trading Corp.

"I'm not shocked that it may be part of the deal," Flynn said Friday. "When you talk about all the euphemisms for trading (on the floor), they can be used for sex as well."

("Massaging the market" and "hardcore" were about the cleanest that he and his colleagues could come up with.)

The study conforms with recent research that indicates men shown a pornographic movie were more likely to make riskier sexual decisions. Another suggests straight men think less about their financial future after being shown pictures of pretty women.

One still-to-be-published study at Harvard University found a link between higher testosterone levels and financial risk-taking.

But the study conducted at Stanford, funded by the National Institutes of Health, went deeper, using functional magnetic resonance imaging machines. It's part of a new but growing field called neuroeconomics that attempts to take the hard-wired science of brain biology and mix it with the softer sciences of psychology and economics to figure out why we make the financial decisions we do.

An earlier study by the same team found that the brain's reward area lit up at about the same time as risky decision-making.

The erotic pictures experiment was designed to find which was the cause and which was the effect. The answer: Lighting up the reward area, in this case with soft-core pictures, caused the risk-taking, Kuhnen said.

"The more activation there you have, the more prone you are to taking more risk," Kuhnen said. "It could be a feedback loop."

The flip side was that the photos of snakes and spiders activated the portion of the brain often associated with pain, fear and anger. And those people were more likely to bet low.

This all makes sense to Harvard economist Terry Burnham, author of the book "Mean Genes." Burnham said it could be all summed up in a famous line from the movie "Scarface."

"In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women."

source : news.wired.com

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Longevity studies have shown the importance of not only eating the right number of calories to support your metabolism but eating low-glycemic nutrient-dense calories to prolong the length, health, and quality of your life. For some this might indeed mean having to cut back on calories. But for most this won’t be the case.

Our ancestors evolved by eating a diet of complex carbohydrates (highfiber grains that took a long time to digest), lean protein, and fresh fruits and vegetables. In our current culture of processed foods, low-nutrition junk foods, and supersized meals, a person can go for weeks without eating a single piece of fresh produce. Because of large-scale, single-crop agribusiness, which picks most produce before it has even ripened so that it can be shipped to supermarkets hundreds or even thousands of miles away, we end up eating almost no fresh, ripe fruits and vegetables. In addition, our food is grown in soil so depleted in minerals that we get little nutritional value from it.

It does not help that we live in a culture that fears fats and carbohydrates.
Most of the popular diet plans restrict one of these food groups.

Fear of Carbohydrates
People avoid carbohydrates because they think they are fattening. Some of the most popular, longstanding programs on the market such as the Atkins diet are based on the premise that you must severely restrict carbohydrates to lose weight. This is not true. Because you need a basic amount of carbohydrates just to keep brain function and other metabolic processes efficient, low-carbohydrate diets can make you feel exhausted and irritable.

No one can stay on a diet for long that leaves them depleted of energy and unable to concentrate.

A very low-carbohydrate diet (or fasting) can induce ketosis. This condition occurs when the body is unable to completely burn fat for energy. Ketones are by-products of the incompletely burned fat. If there is no glucose (carbohydrates) available, then the body (including the brain) can use ketones for energy. The World Health Organization recommends at least 50 grams of carbohydrates daily to avoid ketosis.

Bran muffins, brown rice, and whole-grain breads are complex carbohydrates. Also, each fruit, vegetable, and grain has a different rate of digestion based on the glycemic index. Carbohydrates that digest slowly and release their energy into the bloodstream gradually result in less stored fat than those that digest quickly, releasing their energy in amounts greater than the body can use.

Fear of Fats
Many people are afraid of eating fats because they associate them with instant weight gain. When my nutritionist, Molly Kimball, evaluates clients for my health and performance enhancement program (PEP), she often finds that people who are trying to lose weight frequently avoid fats.

They believe that everything they eat must be low-fat or fat-free. This makes for a boring and tasteless diet. Their typical breakfast might be dry toast or a bagel or cereal with low-fat milk. Lunch might be a sandwich with very little meat and no mayonnaise or cheese.

Dinner might be pasta, brown rice, or a potato and with a little protein. Eating all of these carbohydrates by themselves without a sufficient amount of lean meat (30 percent of the total diet) and acceptable fats (30 percent of the total diet) can trigger an insulin release, causing blood sugar to dip.

No one can avoid fats and stay healthy. Because fat is an energy source, your body needs a certain amount to function efficiently. Most fats are commonly found in animal foods or can be synthesized in your body from carbohydrates.

However, your body cannot make these essential fatty acids, which are omega-6 and omega-3. A deficiency of essential fatty acids will produce symptoms such as dry and scaly skin, dermatitis, and hair loss.

Clients are often shocked to find out how the pounds begin to drop when they begin eating the right amount of fats. Again, the type of fats that you eat—mono- and polyunsaturated fats versus saturated fats—is the most important factor in weight loss, weight maintenance, and good health.

Studies have shown that a healthy nutritional program consists of 40 percent low-glycemic carbohydrates, 30 percent lean protein, and 30 percent acceptable fats.

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Produce, especially the veggie variety, is a dieter’s best friend. When people eat veggies with a meal, they consume a full 20 percent fewer calories overall — and still feel satisfied afterward, a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals.

I know that all that chopping and cooking feels like a drag, but it’s easier than you think to work in five cups of the fresh stuff a day.

At breakfast, have a fruit “smush” made with a medley of fresh berries and yogurt (the lean protein fills me up). Then, at lunch, have a great big salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, peas or whatever your favorite veggies are. Add grilled chicken or another lean protein to hold off afternoon hunger.

Start dinner with a veggie-packed soup, like minestrone, and make a side dish that you love (I’m a big fan of steamed spinach with a little salt). I also love ratatouille (especially in summer), but if you don’t have time for that, heat up some frozen veggies and sprinkle them with Parmesan or lemon juice for an easy, delicious, healthy side. My favorite brand of frozen veggies is from Cascadian Farm.

Or consider making a whole meal out of veggies! Check out these great vegetarian dishes from a recent issue of SELF. I guarantee that the eggplant cannelloni will be a hit at the dinner table tonight.

Then sign up for the Recipe of the Week newsletter for tons more recipes.

source : health.yahoo.com

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Why are they so irritated by water?

Six years ago, scientists trashed the "eight glasses of water a day" dictum, in part because no one could figure out where it came from.

Now there's no reason to feel guilty for not hydrating during aerobics class because there's not much evidence showing that drinking "lots" of water will improve our health, according to the editorial "Just Add Water" by University of Pennsylvania researchers in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

That means excessively hydrating won't necessarily clear toxins from your system, keep organs healthy, curb hunger pains, reduce headaches and improve your skin tone, said authors Dan Negoianu and Stanley Goldfarb of Penn's Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division.

"Our purpose was to relieve people of the burden that they have to drink extra water in order to be healthy," co-author Stanley Goldfarb told me. "There's no evidence of that."

But while the researchers say they wish they could "demolish all the urban myths found on the Internet regarding the benefits of supplemental water ingestion,"they never tell us what "excess" water consumption is. How much is too much?

And what they ultimately concede after reviewing the literature is that there's not enough evidence for either side: No clear data exists for a lack of benefit, either.

In the review, Goldfarb and Negoianu looked at what they consider to be "four major myths" of extra water drinking: that it helps excrete toxins, improves skin tone, reduces appetite and helps cure headaches. Here's a brief look at what they found.

• Excrete toxins: The human body is made up of 60 percent water, so a 200-pound person consists of 120 pounds of water or 15 gallons, said Goldfarb. He contends that adding a cup of water to 15 gallons wouldn't make much of an impact.

"In fact, drinking a lot of water very quickly tends to lower blood flow to the kidney," Goldfarb said. "That actually impairs its ability to excrete toxins,"  he said.

But they also found that several studies reveal that drinking water does have an impact on clearing various substances by the kidney, including sodium and urea. These studies, however, do not indicate any sort of clinical benefit that might result.

• Skin tone: Goldfarb maintains that whenever you ingest water, it's distributed equally throughout the body; there's no reason the skin would get preferential treatment. Plus we have so much skin that the possibility that a few ounces would have an effect seems unlikely and there's no evidence that this has been carefully studied.
• Reduces appetite: Studies are inconclusive but there is a possibility that if you drink water before you eat, it would stay in the stomach--a small volume area--and suppress your appetite. But drinking water with meals didn't seem to have the same effect, and no one has looked at the possibility whether it leads to weight loss, Goldfarb said.

On the other hand, studies have shown that drinking diet soft drinks can lead to obesity. So drinking water instead of diet soda might confer health benefits.

• Headaches: Dehydration can make you feel ill and give you non-specific headaches, but that's different from stress and tension headaches, Goldfarb said. Only one small trial (15 migraine sufferers) has addressed the question, and the researchers found participants who increased their water intake experienced fewer headaches than those who did not. To me, that sure sounded like evidence of a health benefit. But the results were "not statistically significant" according to the study.

When I asked Doctor Alexa Fleckenstein, co-author of "Health20--Tapping into the Health Power of Water" what she thought of the editorial, she agreed that water is not a cure-all.

"And I definitely abhor seeing people everywhere running around with a glass or a bottle in their hands - you never need water that urgently, at least not if you are not hiking," she told me. "Even in aerobics class drinking can wait until you are done."

But Fleckenstein, who wrote Health20 with Roanne Weisman, is a firm believer in water's healing properties and tells people to drink seven glass per day.

"Not because I have a study but precisely because there is NO study giving the exact amount - and seven is a sacred number," she said.

Moreover, we all require different amounts of water because of "different climates, different sizes, different exertion, different clothing (to name a few of the parameters)," she said.

(The average intake is about a quart a day, and most experts say to drink when you're thirsty.)

Fleckenstein says that "common sense and observations in daily life show that skin turgor is better when one drinks enough: I can always tell when my husband forgot to drink - he looks 10 years older."

She adds anecdotally:

"I found out that my ear problems during flights are much improved if I keep solidly hydrated. Other than that, the authors are right: We have no studies. Wish we had!"

source : featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

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More than just a pretty smile, clean teeth and gums are a sign of total body health. And those painful sessions with the dental hygienist could save your life, new findings suggest.

Most people know that the tedium of good oral hygiene — regular brushing, flossing and trips to the dentist's office — reduces  tartar, plaque, cavities, gingivitis and bone loss and helps the breath smell like roses.

But recent research shows that diabetes, low birth weight babies and heart disease are also linked to gum and bone disease in the mouth that can be prevented by teeth cleanings. Treating gum disease might even prevent heart attacks, a new study suggests.

"Systemically, visits to the dentist and hygienist may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and possibly heart attack, and can decrease the likelihood of tooth loss for diabetics," said Gwen Cohen-Brown, a dentist and lecturer for the New York State Department of Health.

The tooth-heart link
When people neglect to brush their teeth or floss, bacteria accumulate between the teeth. These bacteria can make their way into the blood stream.

"Certain bacteria present in the mouth may be related to clogging up the arteries by contributing to the plaque that builds on the walls of the arteries," said New York University oral microbiologist Walter Bretz.

And treating gum disease, or periodontal disease, can improve the long-term function of endothelial cells that line blood vessel walls, according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut Health Center. With better performing endothelial cells, plaques that cause heart disease will decrease, diminishing the risk of triggering a heart attack.

The authors of the study, detailed in the March 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, estimate that severe periodontitis affects up to 1 percent of adults in the U.S., and as many as 80 percent of American adults have some form of periodontal disease.

Unclear pregnancy results
Periodontal disease is also quite common among pregnant women. Expectant mothers' gums react differently to the bacteria due to their increased levels of estrogen and progesterone. Women may experience swelling, bleeding or tenderness in the gum tissue.

Several studies have linked gum disease to an increased risk of giving birth to a premature and underweight baby.

Yet, an article published in a 2006 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reported that, although treatment of gum disease in pregnant women is safe and improves periodontal health, preterm birth and low birth-weight babies were unaffected by the treatment.

The jury is still out on whether a mother's unhealthy gums can affect her unborn baby, but scientists are learning more from a large clinical trial currently under way at the University of Minnesota, focusing on whether treating periodontal diseases in pregnant women may prevent preterm and low birth-weight babies.

Diabetes and dental health
Unlike the case for pregnancy, researchers have found direct links between gum disease and diabetes. Gum disease is known to increase the risk of diabetes, and vice versa.

Studies show that inflammatory periodontal diseases may increase insulin in the same way that obesity increases insulin.

Meanwhile, doctors recognize diabetes as an important risk factor for severe gum disease and infection that may result in the destruction of tissues and bone surrounding the tooth.

Taking care of teeth can combat complications of diabetes and may reduce inflammation throughout the body associated with diseases such as cardiovascular disease. 

In addition to biannual visits with the dentist and hygienist, Cohen-Brown recommends patients brush after every meal, of course. If that's impossible, she said, brush in the morning and at night before bed, floss daily and stay away from carbohydrate-rich and sugary foods.

"When oral health improves, overall health improves," Cohen-Brown told LiveScience.

source : msnbc.msn.com

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To lull you to sleep, you need to make your bedroom a sensuous haven, adding all the accoutrements of comfort and serenity in a beautiful setting.

1. Buy a New Mattress. Don't even try to comparison shop. Every mattress in every store has a different name. And every owner of every mattress shop says that the mattresses in his shop are different -- and better -- than every other mattress shop on the planet. The truth is that the right mattress for you is the one that you try in your home for 30 days. Find a mattress shop that offers that option, pick out the mattress that you and your partner think is the most comfortable, make sure it has a guarantee, and flash your plastic. Don't worry about coils and foam and luxury toppers. The mattress that allows you to sink into a deep, natural sleep and wake up in the morning without aches and pains is the one you want. And there's only one way to find out which mattress that is.

2. Bask in Comfort.Buy silky, natural tree-fiber sheets in a soothing color. An exquisitely soft cashmere throw for the bed. A hypoallergenic down comforter. A sunshine silk duvet cover. Pillows, pillows, and more pillows. A roll for behind your neck, a wedge for behind your back, a full-body pillow for when your bed partner is away. Hypoallergenic, of course. And don't forget the teddy bear. No girl can sleep without one.

3. Spritz. A quick spritz of soothing lavender water on your pillows before bed will help calm your exhausted mind.

4. Chill Before Bed. Lower the temperature of your bedroom before you climb into bed, says Becky Wang-Cheng, M.D., a medical director at Kettering Medical Center in Ohio. Lower temperatures signal your body it's time to sleep. If your bed partner objects, just tell him to bundle up.

5. Soak. A hot bath also helps you lower your body's temperature. Yeah, your temperature goes up while you're in the bath, but your body's response to the heat will be to drop your temperature way down low.

6. Schedule a Massage. "Massage interrupts the neurohormones connected with sleeplessness and almost manually imposes sleep on you," says therapist Belleruth Naparstek, M.S. "If you can't afford a massage, go to a massage school. You can get one there for $15."

7. Get Mean. Women aren't used to nurturing themselves or putting themselves first. But sleep is so necessary to health and happiness that you have to do it. If the dog's snoring wakes you up, then put him in another room. If your partner's snoring wakes you up, help him get treatment. If he refuses to cooperate, put him in another room, too.

8. Shut the Drapes. You sleep better in the dark. If your eyelids flutter open as you move from one stage of sleep to another, even streetlights or a full moon can wake you up.

9. Ditch the Night-Lights. You can also get rid of the clock radios with lighted displays. It turns out your brain can misinterpret even such dim lights and wonder if it should wake you up. "Dark inhibits the brain's biological clock," says Dr. Yan-Go. It tells your brain it's time to sleep.

10. Pull on Socks. There's no solid explanation for it, but studies have found that wearing socks to bed helps you sleep. It may be that warming your feet and legs allows your internal body temperature to drop.

11. Ignore the clock. Turn your clock's face or digital readout away so you can't see it. We wake slightly throughout the night. A glimpse of your clock -- and the realization that you have to get up soon -- is enough to jolt you out of sleep and keep you out.

12. Sleep Naked. It's easier to adjust your comfort zone with sheets and blankets you can pull up or throw off rather than a long nightgown or a pair of fleece pajamas, says neurologist Charles J. Bae, M.D., a sleep specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Sleep Disorders Center. The idea is to make the adjustment in a way that rouses you from sleep the least.

source : rd.com

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Sleeping for eight hours a night is the secret to not putting weight on, according to scientists.

They found that those who slept for less than six hours a night - or more than nine - put on more weight than those who slept for seven or eight hours each night.

The research published in the Journal Sleep found those who did not get enough sleep gained almost 4.4lbs (2kg) compared to those who slept for the recommended number of hours.

Those who had too much sleep gained 1.58 kilos (1.58kg) more than those who slept for the recommended number of hours over six years.

Short sleepers were 27 per cent more likely to become obese and long sleepers were 21 per cent more likely than those had an average night’s sleep.

The research also found that things were worse for people who got less sleep as they were 35 per cent more likely to gain 11lbs (5kg) over six years than those who had seven or eight hours sleep.

Those who slept too long were 25 per cent more likely to gain 11lbs (5kg) in the same time.

The reason that the amount of sleep a person gets can govern their weight is because sleep affects hormones levels, especially those involved in appetite and feeling full after a meal.

The study was carried out by Jean-Philippe Chaput, of Laval University in Quebec, Canada.

He said: “Our study provides evidence that both short and long sleeping times predict an increased risk of future body weight and fat gain in adults.

"Furthermore, these results emphasize the need to add sleep duration to the list of environmental factors that are prevalent in our society and that contribute to weight gain and obesity.

"Since preventing obesity is important, a pragmatic approach adding sleep hygiene advice to encouragement towards a healthy diet and physical activity may help manage the obesity epidemic.”

The study is based on 276 adults aged between 21 and 64 and the researchers took into account their weight at the beginning of the study.

UK and American sleep experts say the chances of getting a good night’s rest increase if you go to bed and get up at the same time every day, even at weekends and set a relaxing routine before getting into bed such as having a bath or reading.

Watching television in bed is not recommended and it is best to avoid stimulants such as alcohol, caffeine, chocolate and exercise in the evening.

If you have trouble getting to sleep it is best to get up and do something relaxing like reading until you feel ready for sleep.

Almost everyone has problems sleeping at some point in their lives, normally because of stress, and around a third of people in the UK have bouts of insomnia.

source : telegraph.co.uk

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