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More Kids Than Ever Have Type 2 Diabetes

2012-11-30T13:57:00.000-06:00

Doctors seek to establish a gold standard for their care of Kids with Type 2 Diabetes

By Erika Gebel, PhD

Fifteen years ago type 2 diabetes in children was almost unheard of. Since then, as the number of cases has crept up, scientists have sought to figure out how best to treat this type of diabetes in young people.

A 2007 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated that there are about 3,700 new cases of type 2 diabetes a year among youth in the United States. The evidence suggests that type 2 behaves differently in children than in adults, an insight that may help doctors give kids with type 2 the best possible care.

Kids With Diabetes in the U.S., 2009 (Under age 20)

More than 19,000 have type 2

More than 168,000 have type 1

Source: SEARCH trial

Rising Numbers
In June, researchers from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study released data showing that type 2 diabetes in 10- to 19-year-olds had increased 21 percent between 2001 and 2009. “Twenty-one percent is substantial,” says Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, MSPH, PhD, RD, of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, who is a SEARCH researcher. “That was really driven by the Hispanic and non-Hispanic white youth.” Type 2 diagnosis rates didn’t increase in Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, or African Americans during these years. This may be good news, says Mayer-Davis, suggesting that rates may be leveling off, but only time will tell. The researchers also noted that the number of cases of type 2 rose faster among girls than in boys.

SEARCH researchers excluded children under 10 years old from their calculations. “Really, type 2 diabetes is exceedingly rare under the age of 10,” says Mayer-Davis, a former American Diabetes Association president of health care and education. The great majority of people with diabetes under 21 years old have type 1, she adds. In 2009, only 1 in 3,000 people between ages 10 and 19 had type 2 diabetes. With type 1, there were 6 cases per 3,000 people between newborn and 19. However, the ratio of type 1 to type 2 diabetes varies among ethnic groups. In new cases of diabetes among African American adolescents over 10 years old, “about 40 percent have type 1 and 55 percent or so have type 2,” says Mayer-Davis. With non-Hispanic white kids, 80 percent are being diagnosed with type 1.

The main culprit for the rise in type 2 among children, experts agree, is weight. “We don’t even entertain the possibility of type 2 when a child isn’t overweight,” says Silva Arslanian, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Obesity isn’t the only factor, though. Many kids are overweight and don’t develop diabetes, says Mayer-Davis, so something must lead the beta cells of the pancreas to stop producing enough insulin to control blood glucose in children who develop type 2. That part, she says, remains a mystery.

A complicating factor is that obesity is rising among type 1s as well, just as in the general population. “It becomes hard to make the distinction,” says Arslanian, between type 1 and type 2 diabetes in children. To confirm that a child has type 2, doctors can check the blood for autoantibodies, the hallmark of type 1.

Prevention and Treatment
Because type 2 in kids is such a recent phenomenon, doctors still don’t have a gold-standard treatment. To address this knowledge gap, scientists conducted the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) study, which included 700 children between 10 and 17 with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. All participants started on metformin to achieve an A1C (average blood glucose over the previous two to three months) of 8 percent or less. Then a third of kids continued metformin, another third took metformin and rosiglitazone (Avandia), and the rest added a weight-loss program to their metformin. Over an average of four years, researchers tracked how many of the children failed to maintain an A1C of 8 percent or less. None of the regimens worked particularly well: By the study’s end, about half the kids in all the groups had experienced a decline in blood glucose control that required treatment with insulin.

The researchers learned that the need for insulin in type 2 comes “three times faster in children than in adults,” says Arslanian. “As of now, it looks like the deterioration in beta cell function in teenagers occurs sooner than in adults.” This suggests that type 2 in kids progresses rapidly. However, at least part of the reason so many kids with type 2 are on insulin is because they have limited options. There is an abundant selection of medications for type 2 in adults. But in children, the only approved diabetes meds are metformin and insulin.

Diabetes complications are a concern in children with uncontrolled type 2. “A higher percentage of kids with type 2 than type 1 have complications,” such as kidney disease, says Mayer-Davis. Children with type 2 often have risk factors for heart disease, such as high blood pressure and high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol. Kids with these conditions are at increased risk for heart attacks and strokes as adults, so Arslanian says it’s important to treat these risk factors with medications that improve cholesterol and blood pressure. The American Diabetes Association also recommends that children with type 2 get annual screenings for diabetic eye and kidney disease.

The future for adolescents with type 2 diabetes is still uncertain. The condition is so new that scientists don’t know what will happen when these kids grow up. But that’s changing, as researchers continue to learn more about the disease in youth. The goal is to establish a gold standard for treatment so that kids with type 2 get the care they need to become healthy adults.

Source: http://forecast.diabetes.org/print/3868

Photo credit: Photo: Erik Isakson/Getty Images

Dr. Andrew Weil’s 5 Health Essentials

2012-11-16T08:20:00.001-06:00

Dr. Andrew Weil practices integrative medicine, a field that emphasizes the body’s natural healing power and focuses on correcting the underlying causes of disease rather than just managing symptoms. As a result, Dr. Weil’s recommendations often focus on illness prevention through simple lifestyle choices. He maintains that there are easy things you can do every day at home to improve your health. Here, Dr. Weil shares his five essentials to provide an immediate boost to your well-being! Learn about the tools that could change your life forever.

Essential #1: Iodine
Dr. Weil considers this multi-purpose mineral essential for good health. Iodine regulates all key metabolic functions including blood cell production, muscle function, body heat, and hormones. An iodine deficiency causes weight gain, fatigue, intolerance to cold, and can result in gastrointestinal problems, skin abnormalities and even neurological issues. With so many symptoms, it’s shocking to learn that millions of women are deficient in iodine. The problem is the American diet; so many processed foods don’t contain iodine and our bodies don’t naturally produce it.

One of the major signs of iodine deficiency is an enlarged thyroid gland. Without iodine, the thyroid cannot produce the proper amount of hormones and it reacts by enlarging itself. A person with an iodine deficiency might experience signs of hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid doesn’t make enough hormones. These symptoms include puffy eyes, dry skin, brittle hair and nails, and exhaustion.

If these symptoms sound familiar, try this self-test to see if you’re iodine deficient. Tip your head back while looking at the reflection of your neck and thyroid area. Swallow several times. Feel for swelling, lumps or bumps on both sides of throat; these may indicate that you have an enlarged thyroid and you should consult your doctor.

Take preventative steps by ensuring you’re getting enough iodine. The National Institutes of Health recommends adults get 150 mcg daily. Chances are that you’re getting enough iodine already if you have a well-rounded diet. Good sources include dairy products and seafood like tuna, shellfish, lobsters and sardines. For an extra-rich source of iodine, try kelp. With 2500 mcg of iodine per gram, this superfood is considered the best natural source in the world.

Bonus Tip: Asian Mushrooms
For another way to enhance your health, try Asian mushrooms. Prominent in Chinese medicine, these superfoods are believed to increase resistance to stress and boost longevity. Dr. Oz’s personal favorites are Shiitake and maitake oyster mushrooms. Eat them today to unwind and extend your life!

Essential #2: Pistachios and DGL
Problems with digestion, heartburn, stomach pains, and IBS are the classic side effects of the standard American diet and stress. Dr. Weil has a solution – a combination of pistachios and an herbal product made from licorice called DGL.

Low-calorie and full of nutrients and fiber, pistachios are great for digestion. New research indicates that these ultra-healthy nuts have prebiotic characteristics – meaning they can help support higher levels of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract. Just one serving of pistachios can make a big difference for your aching stomach. And there’s more good news – one serving is 47 nuts, a larger serving size than any other type of nut, which clocks in at only 158 calories and contains more fiber than half a cup of spinach. That fiber, along with pistachios’ unsaturated fat keeps your digestive system running smoothly. The healthy fats also help to lower cholesterol levels.

The next digestive aid is called deglycyrrhizinated licorice. Don’t confuse DGL with the candy; this licorice is an herbal extract that can be used to treat indigestion and heartburn. It acts by increasing the mucous coating in your stomach, lower esophagus and intestinal tract, protecting those tissues from irritation by stomach acid. This soothing effect helps to treat symptoms of GERD and can protect against the damaging effects of NSAIDs like ibuprofen.

You can find DGL at most health food stores. Try slowly chewing a dose of 2 (75 mg) tablets before or between meals. DGL also comes in a powder form – try half of a teaspoon in between meals. While DGL is perfect for anyone who suffers from heartburn, it is not recommended for anyone with diabetes, high blood pressure or a history of heart disease.

Bonus Tip: Know Your Probiotics
Another way to guard your gut is with probiotics. These live microorganisms help restore the friendly bacteria you need in your gastrointestinal tract to keep digestion running smoothly. Look for an effective strain like bifidobacterium to treat an array of conditions. Need a Probiotic - try Unicity http://pamelataylor.myunicity.net/shopping/index.html

Essential #3: Palm Reflexology
Stress is toxic for both your body and mind; managing your stress level is essential to good health. Dr. Weil recommends a reflexology technique based on Chinese medicine. This 5,000-year-old theory applies pressure to specific points on your body, activating channels or “meridians” which help to release tension and promote the free flow of blood and energy. This type of therapy has been used for centuries to provide pain relief, improve circulation, and alleviate muscle tension.

For relaxation, Dr. Weil recommends palm reflexology. The next time you feel stressed, try the following simple technique: Using the thumb and index finger of your right hand, rub the fleshy areas between the thumb and index finger on your left hand. Then, starting at the base of each finger, squeeze and roll upwards towards the fingertip, gently pulling outwards as you go. Next, take your thumb and firmly massage small circles all over the palm of your hand. Repeat the process on your other hand. When you’re finished, clench your fists and hold them for 10 seconds, then extend your hand and spread your fingers for 10 seconds. Shake out your hands gently and finish by taking four deep, slow breaths.

Bonus Tip: 4-7-8 Breathing Technique
Another way to tame your tension is to employ the 4-7-8 breathing technique. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose for a mental count of four seconds. Hold your breath for a count of seven, and then exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight. This simple breathing exercise is a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system!

Essential #4: The Rules of Raw
Dr. Weil believes that food is medicine, so the raw food movement is something he’s carefully examined. His verdict? He doesn’t recommend eating only raw foods – for two major reasons.

First, you lose much of the best flavor, texture and appearance of your foods if you’re only eating them raw. Secondly, some of the vitamins and minerals are less available to the body in raw vegetables than when they’re cooked.

For example, your body can only obtain lycopene, a carotenoid pigment that protects against cancer, from tomatoes when they’re cooked. Similarly, the carotenoids in carrots are more available from cooked carrots than their raw counterparts. Yet this rule isn’t true of all foods. Leafy greens like watercress and arugula are at their healthiest when left raw; heating them breaks down nutrients and destroys their benefits. If you want to eat some of the healthiest raw foods, try either garlic or asparagus.

Garlic is a superfood that promotes immunity and helps maintain healthy blood circulation. The active component in garlic is the sulfur compound called allicin, a powerful chemical that is produced when garlic is chopped, chewed, or bruised. Allicin acts as an antibiotic and helps the body to inhibit the ability of germs to grow and reproduce. The amount of allicin in one clove of garlic, around 1 milligram, is said to have the potency of 15 standard units of penicillin.

Cooking garlic diminishes allicin, so eat it raw to maximize your benefits. For best results, crush the cloves to release the healthy enzyme. The production of allicin is greater if the garlic is exposed to air, so let the crushed garlic stand for 10 minutes before combining it with other foods. Add it to a salad dressing or tomato sauce. You can also try spreading 1/2 teaspoon on some toast with a bit of cheese to make a raw garlic bread. Sweeten it up by adding a spoonful of honey and a dash of lemon.

For another immunity booster, try asparagus. This spear-shaped vegetable is truly a weapon for your health! Packed with antioxidants, asparagus ranks among the top fruits and vegetables for its ability to neutralize cell-damaging free radicals. Asparagus is also rich in folate, which works with vitamin B12 to help keep your brain healthy. Cooking asparagus minimizes its folate, so enjoy it raw. Simply wash the asparagus and snap off the tough part, leaving the easily digestible, tender portion of the stem. For a one-two immunity punch, dip your asparagus in your garlic salad dressing!

Supercharge your vegetables by learning if you should eat them raw or cooked.

Bonus Tip: Power of Flowers
For a colorful way to avoid getting sick, add flowers to your home! Their beauty and scent will raise your spirits instantly!

Essential #5: CoQ10
Dr. Weil’s final essential sounds almost too good to be true – a super-pill to slow aging. The supplement is CoQ10, a substance that protects your heart and brain from oxidative stress, meaning it blocks the free radicals that break down cells and cause aging. Coenzyme Q10 is made by every cell in the human body. It’s particularly concentrated in tissues having high-energy requirements, such as the muscles of the heart and the brain, which requires huge amounts of uninterrupted energy to regulate, integrate, and coordinate ongoing nervous system transmissions.

Researchers have discovered CoQ10 levels diminish with age, while dietary inadequacies, certain diseases and medications can also significantly reduce CoQ10 levels in the body. CoQ10 is found in foods like sardines, beef and peanuts, yet you’d need to consume huge portions to obtain your daily dose through diet. Dr. Weil recommends taking a pill. He suggests the average adult try a supplement of 120 mg daily. To facilitate your body’s best absorption, take a 60 mg soft-gel capsule twice a day with a meal containing fat.

Bonus Tip: Spill Your Oil
Another way to slow your aging is to purge your pantry of all of your toxic fats. Do a smell test on your oil – if it smells like paint, pour it out and get rid of it!

Bonus Tip: Natural Fatigue Fighters
The next time you’re extra exhausted, turn to Mother Nature. These healing remedies from Dr. Weil’s trusted colleague, Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, can fight fatigue and restore your zest for life.

Golden Root
Also known as rhodiola or arctic root, this plant has been used since ancient times to treat fatigue. Studies have really shown that golden root improves mental concentration, physical endurance and helps with general chronic fatigue.
Get a standardized extract and start with a dose of 100 to 200 mg a day for 1 to 2 weeks. Each following week, you can gradually increase by 1 mg as needed. Most people end up taking golden root for 3-4 months and do well with around 400 mg.

Prickly Pear
The fruit of the prickly pear cactus is rich in magnesium, an energizing essential mineral that promotes healthy heart and kidney function. Prickly pear also contains vitamin C, which boosts immunity and provides antioxidant protection against chronic disease including diabetes. Studies show that prickly pear is effective at helping to increase insulin sensitivity. It also fights fatigue by stabilizing blood sugar in people who experience spikes and crashes as a result of their diet.You can find prickly pear at your local health food store. It’s easy to make your own prickly pear juice. First, remove the skin carefully so you don’t get pricked. Strain the seeds and pulp through a cheesecloth; you’ll get about a quarter-cup of juice left from each fruit. You can also buy prepackaged prickly pear juice.

Siberian Ginseng
This herb has a long history of use by athletes and the military. Most products containing Siberian ginseng vary in concentration and potency, so pay extra attention to the instructions on the label or talk to your doctor to determine your best dosage.

Source: http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/andrew-weil-5-health-essentials?page=3#copy

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - Symptoms & Natural Solution

2012-09-26T00:17:00.000-05:00

What is PCOS?

PCOS is a condition in which a woman’s ovaries and, in some cases the adrenal glands, produce more androgens (a type of hormone) than normal. High levels of these hormones interfere with the development and release of eggs as part of ovulation. As a result, fluid-filled sacs or cysts can develop on the ovaries. Because women with PCOS do not release eggs during ovulation, PCOS is the most common cause of female infertility.

How does PCOS affect fertility?

A woman's ovaries have follicles, which are tiny, fluid-filled sacs that hold the eggs. When an egg is mature, the follicle breaks open to release the egg so it can travel to the uterus for fertilization. In women with PCOS, immature follicles bunch together to form large cysts or lumps. The eggs mature within the bunched follicles, but the follicles don't break open to release them.
As a result, women with PCOS often have menstrual irregularities, such as amenorrhea (they don’t get menstrual periods) or oligomenorrhea (they only have periods now and then). Because the eggs are not released, most women with PCOS have trouble getting pregnant.

What are the symptoms of PCOS?

In addition to infertility, women with PCOS may also have:

Pelvic pain
Hirsutism, or excess hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, thumbs, or toes
Male-pattern baldness or thinning hair
Acne, oily skin, or dandruff
Patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin

Also, women who are obese are more likely to have PCOS.
Although it is hard for women with PCOS to get pregnant, some do get pregnant, naturally or using assistive reproductive technology. Women with PCOS are at higher risk for miscarriage if they do become pregnant.
Women with PCOS are also at higher risk for associated conditions, such as:

Diabetes
Metabolic syndrome—sometimes called a precursor to diabetes, this syndrome indicates that the body has trouble regulating its insulin
Cardiovascular disease—including heart disease and high blood pressure

What is the treatment for PCOS?

There is no cure for PCOS, but many of the symptoms can often be managed. It is important to have PCOS diagnosed and treated early to help prevent associated problems. There are medications that can help control the symptoms, such as birth control pills to regulate menstruation, reduce androgen levels, and clear acne. Other medications can reduce cosmetic problems, such as hair growth, and control blood pressure and cholesterol.
Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise can aid weight loss and help reduce blood sugar levels and regulate insulin levels more effectively. Weight loss can help lessen many of the health conditions associated with PCOS and can make symptoms be less severe or even disappear.
Surgical treatment may also be an option, but it is not recommended as the first course of treatment.
NICHD-funded research has also examined the effects of the anti-diabetes drug metformin on fertility in women with PCOS. To learn more about this research, check out the news releases about PCOS.

How is PCOS diagnosed?

Your health care provider will take a medical history and do a pelvic exam to feel for cysts on your ovaries. He or she may also do a vaginal ultrasound and recommend blood tests to measure hormone levels. Other tests may include measuring levels of insulin, glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

The NATURAL SOLUTION
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Source: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Polycystic_Ovary_Syndrome.cfm

Top 10 Myths about Cardiovascular Disease

2012-09-03T23:17:00.004-05:00

In light of Rosie O'Donnell's recent Heart Attack and the death of a co-worker and Michael Clark Duncan from Heart Disease, I decided to find a resource article to help everyone understand the gravity of heart disease and to help you learn what YOU CAN DO to prevent this illness. My prayers go out to everyone affected by Heart Disease and I cherish loving memories of those individuals that have fought the good fight and are now in their Heavenly Home. Namaste.

Article from American Heart Association - Heart.org

How much do you really know about your heart’s health? It’s easy to be fooled by misconceptions. After all, heart disease only happens to your elderly neighbor or to your fried food-loving uncle, right? Or do you know the real truth – that heart disease can affect people of any age, even those who eat right?
Relying on false assumptions can be dangerous to your heart. Cardiovascular disease kills more Americans each year than any other disease. But you can boost your heart smarts by separating fact from fiction. Let’s set the record straight on some common myths.

1.“I’m too young to worry about heart disease.” How you live now affects your risk for cardiovascular diseases later in life. As early as childhood and adolescence, plaque can start accumulating in the arteries and later lead to clogged arteries. One in three Americans has cardiovascular disease, but not all of them are senior citizens. Even young and middle-aged people can develop heart problems – especially now that obesity, type 2 diabetes and other risk factors are becoming more common at a younger age.

2.“I’d know if I had high blood pressure because there would be warning signs.” High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because you don’t usually know you have it. You may never experience symptoms, so don’t wait for your body to alert you that there’s a problem. The way to know if you have high blood pressure is to check your numbers with a simple blood pressure test. Early treatment of high blood pressure is critical because, if left untreated, it can cause heart attack, stroke, kidney damage and other serious health problems. Learn how high blood pressure is diagnosed.

3. “I’ll know when I’m having a heart attack because I’ll have chest pain.” Not necessarily. Although it’s common to have chest pain or discomfort, a heart attack may cause subtle symptoms. These include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling lightheaded, and pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the jaw, neck or back. Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, call 9-1-1 immediately. Learn you risk of heart attack today!

4.“Diabetes won’t threaten my heart as long as I take my medication.” Treating diabetes can help reduce your risk for or delay the development of cardiovascular diseases. But even when blood sugar levels are under control, you’re still at increased risk for heart disease and stroke. That’s because the risk factors that contribute to diabetes onset also make you more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. These overlapping risk factors include high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.

5.“Heart disease runs in my family, so there’s nothing I can do to prevent it.” Although people with a family history of heart disease are at higher risk, you can take steps to dramatically reduce your risk. Create an action plan to keep your heart healthy by tackling these to-dos: get active; control cholesterol; eat better; manage blood pressure; maintain a healthy weight; control blood sugar; and stop smoking.

6.“I don’t need to have my cholesterol checked until I’m middle-aged.” The American Heart Association recommends you start getting your cholesterol checked at age 20. It’s a good idea to start having a cholesterol test even earlier if your family has a history of heart disease. Children in these families can have high cholesterol levels, putting them at increased risk for developing heart disease as adults. You can help yourself and your family by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

7.“Heart failure means the heart stops beating.” The heart suddenly stops beating during cardiac arrest, not heart failure. With heart failure, the heart keeps working, but it doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. It can cause shortness of breath, swelling in the feet and ankles or persistent coughing and wheezing. During cardiac arrest, a person loses consciousness and stops normal breathing.

8.“This pain in my legs must be a sign of aging. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my heart.” Leg pain felt in the muscles could be a sign of a condition called peripheral artery disease. PAD results from blocked arteries in the legs caused by plaque buildup. The risk for heart attack or stroke increases five-fold for people with PAD.

9.“My heart is beating really fast. I must be having a heart attack.” Some variation in your heart rate is normal. Your heart rate speeds up during exercise or when you get excited, and slows down when you’re sleeping. Most of the time, a change in your heartbeat is nothing to worry about. But sometimes, it can be a sign of arrhythmia, an abnormal or irregular heartbeat. Most arrhythmias are harmless, but some can last long enough to impact how well the heart works and require treatment.

10.“I should avoid exercise after having a heart attack.” No! As soon as possible, get moving with a plan approved for you! Research shows that heart attack survivors who are regularly physically active and make other heart-healthy changes live longer than those who don’t. People with chronic conditions typically find that moderate-intensity activity is safe and beneficial. The American Heart Association recommends at least two and a half hours of moderate intensity physical activity each week. Find the help you need by joining a cardiac rehabilitation program, or consult your healthcare provider for advice on developing a physical activity plan tailored to your needs.

Source: American Heart Association

Keep Your Kid's Cholesterol in Check

2012-08-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

By BELINDA WALKER - July 12, 2010

Should all children be screened for high cholesterol?

That's the suggestion of a study out of West Virginia that found that a family history alone isn't sufficient to catch high cholesterol among children.

In analyzing results from family histories and fasting lipid tests of more than 20,000 West Virginia youngsters, researchers found that 71 percent of them met guidelines for cholesterol screening based on family history.

But it said that a third of children whose cholesterol levels were high enough to merit treatment were being missed by guidelines so dependent upon family history. The study concludes that many youngsters could benefit from universal cholesterol screening that would allow for early diagnosis.

However Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News' senior health and medical editor for ABC News, is cautious of the study. He said the study did not take into account obesity levels and that we should be careful putting young children on medication they may have to use for the rest of their lives.

Besser suggests the emphasis should be on obesity prevention and the promotion of healthy eating habits and exercise for the whole family since weight loss and exercise is one way to reduce cholesterol without medication.

Tips to Keep Your Kids' Cholesterol Down

"Good Morning America" gathered some good cholesterol wrangling tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WebMD:

-Make sure you know your family history.

-Exercise regularly. According to the CDC, children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day.

-Make sure your children eat foods low in total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.

-Select a variety of foods so your child can get all the nutrients he or she needs.

Some Healthy Meal Options:

Breakfast: Fruit, cereal, oatmeal and low-fat yogurt are among the good choices for breakfast foods. Use skim or 1 percent milk rather than whole or 2 percent milk (after age 2, or as recommended by your doctor).

Lunch and Dinner: Increase vegetable consumption and cut back on meats. In fact, you can join the Meatless Monday movement! Cutting meats out of your diet at least one day each week can cut down on your fat intake and will make room for more nutrient-rich vegetables.

Bake or grill foods instead of frying them. Use whole-grain breads and rolls to make a healthier sandwich. Also, give your child whole-grain crackers with soups, chili, and stew. Prepare pasta, beans, rice, fish, skinless poultry or other dishes. Always serve fresh fruit (with the skin) with meals.

Snacks: Fruits, vegetables, breads and cereals make great snacks for children. Children should avoid soda and fruit drinks.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/dr-richard-besser-kids-cholesterol-check/story?id=11139963

Diabetes Drugs and Elevated Cancer Risk: More Evidence

2012-08-19T10:16:00.000-05:00

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Stone Hearth News

A popular class of diabetes drugs increases patients’ risk of bladder cancer, according to a new study published online this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs – which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States — are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications for diabetes.

The authors say the findings are especially important since diabetic patients are known to already be at a slightly increased risk of this type of cancer as compared to the generation population, in which about 30 in 100,000 people develop bladder cancer. Among diabetes patients overall, the incidence of this cancer is typically about 40 out of 100,000.

The authors of the new study analyzed 60,000 Type 2 diabetes patients from the Health Improvement Network (THIN) database in the United Kingdom. They found that patients treated with the TZD drugs pioglitazone (Actos) or rosiglitzaone (Avandia) for five or more years had a two-to-three-fold increase in risk of developing bladder cancer when compared to those who took sulfonylurea drugs. Among patients taking TZDs for that length of time, the team’s analysis indicates that 170 patients per 100,000 would be expected to develop the disease. About 60 in 100,000 of those who take sulfonylurea drugs – such as glipizide (Glucotrol) — would be expected to develop bladder cancer.

“Diabetes is one the most common chronic diseases worldwide, affecting 285 million people. There are many factors clinicians must weigh in deciding which drug to use to control a patient’s diabetes, and these new data provide important information to include in that decision-making process,” said the study’s lead author, Ronac Mamtani, MD, an instructor in the division of Hematology-Oncology in Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. “Our study shows that doctors who care for patients with diabetes should be very aware of any bladder-related symptoms patients might be having, like blood in the urine, and take steps to further evaluate those issues.”

Though most patients in the United States no longer take Avandia since it was linked to severe cardiovascular problems, Actos is the ninth most commonly prescribed drug in the nation, accounting for some 15 million prescriptions each year. The drug is a common choice when Type 2 diabetes patients’ illnesses can no longer be controlled with the first-line diabetes drug Metformin.

Based on previous data examining safety risks among patients taking Actos, the FDA has already warned that it may be associated with a risk of bladder cancer, and France and Germany have removed the drug from their markets. The new findings add to mounting evidence against the entire class of TZDs, as one of the first studies examining this type of risk among people taking both types of TZDs and among those taking sulfonylurea drugs.

“The risk does seem to be common among both drugs in the TZD class, and the fact that we have compared bladder cancer risk among patients taking each of those drugs provides essential information, because a safety warning on a drug is only useful to a doctor when they have knowledge of the same risks for an alternative drug,” Mamtani says. “We believe our study will help doctors and their patients weigh the potential benefits and risks when selecting between different diabetes medication.”

http://www.stonehearthnewsletters.com/diabetes-drugs-and-elevated-cancer-risk-more-evidence/diabetes/

Diabetes Hits Women Hard at Menopause: Beat It Back

2012-08-14T09:47:00.001-05:00

Article from The North American Menopause Society

Diabetes hits women hard, especially at midlife. In the United States, it’s the number 6 killer of women ages 45 to 54 and the number 4 killer of women ages 55 to 64. What’s more, diabetes increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and many other serious conditions, including blindness, kidney disease, and nerve disease.

Diabetes is on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 10 US adults has diabetes now, and if current trends continue, that figure could rise to 1 in 3 by 2050. The increase is nearly all because of the rise of type 2 diabetes, which is most common in obese people age 40 and older. (Type 1 diabetes is much less common and usually starts in childhood or adolescence.) A huge proportion of US adults—more than a third of all of them and half over age 65—have prediabetes, and thus are poised to develop the full-blown disease.

Does menopause increase diabetes risk? That hasn’t been an easy question for researchers to answer. It’s hard to separate the effects of menopause from the effects of age and weight. But it does look like hormones do have something to do with it. If you are a woman over age 50, you’re especially vulnerable, and women pay a heavy price for the disease. They lose more years of life than men with diabetes do. In addition, the death rate for women with diabetes has risen dramatically since the 1970s, while it has not for men with the disease.

Age and overweight (or obesity) are the most common traits that make someone likely to develop type 2 diabetes. A family history of diabetes, prediabetes, minority ethnicity (Hispanic, African American, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander), high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease or abnormal cholesterol levels, and inactivity also put people at higher risk of developing diabetes. For women, having high blood pressure develop during pregnancy (called preeclampsia), diabetes during pregnancy (called gestational diabetes), or polycystic ovary syndrome raise the risk even more.

What do the experts say?

•Get tested. The CDC estimates that more than a quarter of people who have diabetes haven’t been diagnosed. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you get tested every 3 years starting at age 45, especially if you are overweight. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults with blood pressure above 135/80 be screened every 3 years. If you have some additional risks, such as a family history of diabetes, then you should get tested more frequently.

•Diet and exercise. The best way to prevent diabetes is with a healthy lifestyle. The National Institutes of Health sponsored a Diabetes Prevention Program trial, that used “intensive” lifestyle training. The participants in this large clinical trial were overweight and had prediabetes. More than two thirds of them were women, and nearly half were from an ethnic minority group. Some got intense training to change their diet, physical activity, and habits with the goal of losing just 7% of their body weight. Another group took the diabetes drug metformin and got standard advice about diet and exercise. A third group got the standard advice only. The modest but focused lifestyle change did more than anything else to prevent diabetes. It reduced the number of new diabetes cases 58% more than standard advice alone. In contrast, metformin plus standard advice didn’t do nearly as well, reducing the number of diabetes cases 31% compared with standard advice. The message is that many people can benefit from adopting such.

•Take hormone therapy (HT) to prevent diabetes? The NAMS Advisory Panel of experts who helped to develop our NAMS 2012 Hormone Therapy Position Statement say no. Although it is clear that HT can reduce the risk of developing diabetes, that shouldn’t be the reason you start taking it. If you take HT for your menopausal symptoms, it can offer benefits for diabetes prevention and for some of the complications of diabetes but it can also increase risk of stroke. Some of the large clinical trials of HT suggest that starting early—as you go through the menopause transition or shortly after that—may be less risky.

Take some healthy steps

•There are many ways to reduce your risk of diabetes and the risk of diabetes complications:
•Do weight-bearing exercise
•Exercise more in general
•Eat a healthy diet that limits sugar and fat
•Control your weight
•Limit your alcohol intake
•Increase sources of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet with fatty fish (such as mackerel, salmon, sardines) or plant-based sources (such as soy, canola oil, flax seeds, and walnuts)
•For women with osteoporosis, use of bisphosphonate medication may cut the need for insulin

source: http://www.menopause.org/for-women/-i-menopause-flashes-i-/diabetes-hits-women-hard-at-menopause-beat-it-back

The Benefits of Walking

2012-08-13T04:11:00.000-05:00

Heart Disease Diet: Do You Have a "Wheat Belly"?

2012-08-12T12:52:00.000-05:00

By Dr. William Davis, Health Pro

Low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, small LDL particles: the most common triad of abnormalities today behind heart disease.

Along with this pattern comes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes and pre-diabetes, increased inflammation, increasingly blood clot-prone blood. This common collection that now afflicts over 50 million Americans goes by a number of names, including metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance syndrome, and syndrome X.

But I call it “wheat belly.” Let me explain.

You've heard of "beer bellies," the protuberant, sagging abdomen of someone who drinks excessive quantities of beer.

Wheat belly is the same protuberant, sagging abdomen that develops when you overindulge in processed carbohydrates. It represents visceral fat that laces the intestines.

While nearly everyone knows that candy bars and soft drinks aren’t good for health, most Americans have allowed processed carbohydrates, but especially wheat products like pretzels, crackers, breads, waffles, pancakes, breakfast cereals and pasta, to dominate diet. I blame the extreme over-reliance on these foods for the obesity and related abnormalities: wheat belly.

How did this all come about?

Back in the 1960s, we had sandwiches on white bread, hamburgers on white flour buns, spaghetti made with bleached, enriched flour. Data from the 1970s and 1980s, however, demonstrated conclusively that using whole grains, with the bran and B-vitamins left in, was better: better for bowel health, blood pressure, cholesterol values.

Fast-forward to the 1990s and the new century, and the mantra has evolved to “eat more whole grains, eat more whole grains,” repeated by “official” organizations and propagated by countless media conversations. And Americans have complied.

But while video games, unhealthy snacks, and vending machines have been roundly blamed for the nationwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes, it’s curious that increased weight has befallen even active people who eat “healthy”: yes, plenty of whole grains.

In my view, it is the grains that are largely behind the obesity and diabetes epidemic, at least among the frustrated health-conscious.

But not all grains. Oats and flaxseed, for instance, seem to not contribute to weight and the associated patterns like small LDL.

The wife of a patient of mine who was in the hospital (one of my rare hospitalizations) balked in disbelief when I told her that her husband's 18 lb weight gain over the past 6 months was due to the whole wheat cereal for breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, and whole wheat pasta for dinner.

"But that's what they told us to eat after Dan left the hospital after his last stent!"

Dan, at 260 lbs with a typical wheat belly, had small LDL, low HDL, high triglycerides, etc.

Many people, on hearing this peculiar perspective, are incredulous. “You’re nuts!” Whole grains are full of fiber and B vitamins. Everybody ‘knows’ they’re healthy!”

I thought so, too, 12 years ago when I followed a strict vegetarian, low-fat diet, rich with “healthy” whole grains. I gained 30 lbs, my HDL dropped to 27 mg/dl, triglycerides skyrocketed to 350 mg/dl, small LDL went crazy, my blood pressure was 150/90, and I developed diabetic blood sugars─while running 5 miles a day. It’s the wheat. I eliminated the wheat and promptly reversed the entire picture.

If you don't believe it, try this experiment: Eliminate all forms of wheat for a 4 week period--no breakfast cereals, no breads of any sort, no pasta, no crackers, no pretzels, etc. Instead, increase your vegetables; healthy oils; lean proteins (lean red meats, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, Egg Beaters, yogurt and cottage cheese); raw nuts like almonds, walnuts, and pecans; and fruit. Of course, avoid fruit drinks, candy, and other garbage foods, even if they're wheat-free. (And don’t confuse this conversation with celiac disease or gluten enteropathy, an allergy to wheat gluten, an entirely different issue.)

Most people will report that a cloud has been lifted from their brain. Thinking is clearer, you have more energy, you don't lose in the afternoon, you sleep more deeply. You will notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it's time to consider eating again. You may even find that you miss meals, just because you forgot to eat. Very curious.

It’s unconventional, I know. The last 500 patients I’ve done this with also thought so─until they lost 15, 20 . . .70 lbs along with all the undesirable metabolic “baggage.”

Source: http://www.healthcentral.com/heart-disease/c/1435/33213/heart-disease/2?ic=2601

Insulin Resistance - Why you can't lose weight

2012-08-09T12:59:00.000-05:00

A problem with insulin could be preventing your from losing weight. Insulin resistance is a common problem and causes obesity, heart disease, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and rapid ageing. It also increases the risk for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis. How could one little hormone do all that?

What is Insulin?

Insulin is an ancient, anabolic hormone, which is found in all forms of animal life. Insulin's main function is to stimulate the cell to store nutrients. This was important in the days when starvation was a real possibility for our ancestors. In our modern era of abundant food, "nutrient storage" is not something that we want to promote in our bodies.

Hormone of Ageing

Insulin does more than store nutrition. It has been shown to limit the lifespan of cells. In other words, it is the chemical signal that determines when a cell has lived long enough and it's time to die. In this way, insulin can be thought of as the hormone that promotes ageing. Certainly in humans, excess insulin accelerates the rate of ageing. Insulin sounds bad, and yes, in excess it is harmful, but do not forget that it is essential for life. Without insulin, our cells cannot use food for energy. Before the invention of injectable insulin, diabetes was a life-threatening disease.

What is Insulin Resistance?

Under normal circumstances, insulin is tightly controlled by a natural homoeostatic feedback mechanism. With every meal, insulin is released as carbohydrates enter the blood stream. In a healthy body, the insulin receptors in the cell membranes respond to the hormone, and take up carbohydrates and other nutrients. This, in turn, reduces the production of insulin. The problem starts when the tissue fails to respond to insulin. When this happens, the sugar in the blood remains high despite the presence of insulin, and the body has no choice but to release more insulin. It becomes a vicious cycle because it is actually the presence of insulin that makes the tissue more and more resistant to it. This is how insulin exposure determines the rate of ageing: with every insulin release, cell membranes become a little bit more insulin resistant. A gradual increase in insulin concentration over time is normal, but the current epidemic of severe insulin resistance is a modern phenomenon.

It may be the cause of many of your health problems

When your body becomes resistant to insulin, it cannot metabolize carbohydrates properly. Untreated, this leads to Type 2 diabetes. Decades before it becomes diabetes, however, Insulin Resistance can cause real problems. As the master hormone, it's presence in excess can lead to many different conditions such as:
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Heart disease
Alzheimer's Disease
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Breast cancer
Prostate cancer
Under-active thyroid
Premature ageing
Acne

A problem with insulin worsens menopausal symptoms

-Low libido. Women with insulin resistance are more likely to experience a drop in libido with menopause.

-Osteoporosis. Women who are overweight and/or diabetic are more at risk for osteoporotic fractures. This overturns the conventional belief that body weight protects against osteoporosis. Overweight women often have normal bone density scores, but they go on to suffer fractures anyway. Excess insulin causes bone-remodeling cells to degrade into fat cells. In this regard, osteoporosis can be viewed as "obesity of the bone".

-Hot Flashes. A new study from the University of California has found that women who are overweight are more likely to suffer hot flashes.Weight loss causes a significant improvement in symptoms. (10) Perhaps you take different medications for your cholesterol, blood pressure, and thyroid but those are only band-aids. They do not address the insulin resistance that may be the single problem that is causing the other conditions.

Are you sure that you do not have Insulin Resistance?

Insulin Resistance is such an important health condition, and yet it may be completely off your doctor's radar. Forget your cholesterol and your female hormone readings on blood test, and look deeper. Ask yourself this very important question: "Are you a pre-diabetic?" Here are some warning signs: fasting glucose greater than 5.0 mmol/L (the official reference range is 3.5-6.0) elevated triglycerides and bad cholesterol (LDL) elevated ALT on liver function test waist measure greater than 80cm for women and 90cm for men high blood pressure The definitive pathology test for insulin resistance is the Glucose Tolerance Test (GTT) with insulin. One hour after the glucose load, normal insulin should be less than 60mU/L. Other useful tests include fasting insulin, fasting glucose, liver function test, lipid profile, C-RP, thyroid function and serum vitamin D.

How did you get in it in the first place?

-Leptin resistance: New research suggests that leptin resistance may be the driving force behind insulin resistance.

-Pollution: A study published in Diabetes Care has found that people who have the highest level of stored toxins were 38 times more likely to have diabetes than people with a lower level of stored toxins. Even if they were overweight, people with low level of toxins did not develop diabetes. An editorial about the study published in the Lancet made the following statement: 'This finding might imply that virtually all the risk of diabetes conferred by obesity is attributable to persistent organic pollutants, and that obesity is only a vehicle for such chemicals. This possibility is shocking'. (In other words, obesity causes diabetes simply because it a vehicle for toxins.)

-Herbicides: Rats exposed to low doses of the common herbicide Atrazine gained 10% more abdominal weight over 5 months than non-exposed animals. The cells of the exposed rats were found to contain damaged mitochondria, which prevents normal cell response to insulin. Blood tests showed significantly higher blood sugar and insulin levels.

-Smoking: Toxins in cigarette smoke damage the insulin receptor, and cause distinctive weight gain around the waist. No more smoking to stay thin!

-Inflammation: New research from the University of Maryland has correlated inflammatory products in the blood with insulin resistance. This means that inflammation caused by infection, stress and pollution may be a direct contributor to insulin resistance and its outcomes: obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Too much sugar and flour in the diet: Carbohydrate intake compared to protein has increased dramatically in the last century. Since the onset of large-scale flour refinement in the 1890's, the average person consumes more fibre-free carbohydrate in a week than a nineteenth century person did in a year!

-Fructose: Studies have shown that fructose is a particularly harmful type of carbohydrate. It inactivates the insulin receptor, and it interferes with the way the brain responds to leptin (the anti-hunger hormone). The result is constant hunger, and a progression towards insulin resistance and fatty liver. Fructose is in modern sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup and sucrose (table sugar). It is in prepared foods like fizzy drinks and baked goods, and even so-called healthy foods like yoghurt and muesli bars. Whole pieces of fruit do contain fructose, but it is balanced by healthy fiber, so fruit is ok to eat in moderation. Care should be taken with dried fruit and fruit juice.

-Trans Fat: Trans fats are damaged polyunsaturated fatty acids, found in processed vegetable oil such as margarine, deep-fried food, or commercially prepared oil. Conventionally touted as the healthy oils, these Frankenstein molecules have become a large part of the modern diet. They are damaged, distorted molecules, and when they are incorporated into the cell membrane, then interfere with the functioning of the insulin and other receptors.

-Vitamin D deficiency has been linked with Insulin Resistance. Birth control Pill worsens insulin resistance.

-Lack of exercise

-Problems with digestion. (unhealthy intestinal bacteria)

Natural Treatment for Insulin Resistance

The good news is that insulin resistance is reversible with diet and lifestyle. Detoxify. Help your body to remove stored residues of pollutants, cigarette smoke and herbicides. Intermittent fasting. Research from the Institute on Aging has shown that intermittent fasting improves insulin sensitivity. When participants skipped the evening meal, their fasting insulin improved, and they had fewer inflammatory markers on blood tests.

How to do it: Always have a large breakfast and lunch. (As you become healthier, you will find that you regain an appetite for breakfast.) Then 1 to 3 nights per week, you must skip dinner, or replace dinner with a protein smoothie. They should not be consecutive nights. Reduce carbohydrates, especially fructose sweeteners.

During the first couple of months of treatment, carbohydrate intake should be less than 50 grams per day. With a diet of meat and salad vegetables, this is not difficult. An average serving of broccoli, for example, contains only 13 grams of carbohydrate. Compare this to a serving of pasta, which contains over 40 grams of carbohydrate, or to refined sugar, the worst carbohydrate. A small can of soft drink contains at least 40 grams of carbohydrate. If you are addicted to a sweet taste, you can try the herbal sweetener Stevia, which has the added benefit of improving insulin sensitivity. Eliminate refined sugar from your diet. Sugar is the worst kind of carbohydrate.

-Eat protein regularly. Protein curbs the release of insulin and stimulates the production of the hormone glucagon, which opposes insulin. (Do not increase protein if you have kidney problems, and do not exceed 90-100 grams of protein per day.) Good sources include: 2 eggs (12 grams protein), 1 chicken breast (25 grams protein), 2 lamb chops (29 grams protein), 25 grams whey protein (23 grams protein). Avoid Trans fat.

-Eliminate soy oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil or any generic "vegetable oil". Particularly bad are margarine, vegetable oil spreads and deep-fried food. Eat only naturally occurring fats such as butter, avocado, olive oil, coconut milk, meat, fish, and nuts and seeds. It can take up to 6 months to give your cell membranes an "oil change".

- Exercise. Strength training dramatically improves insulin sensitivity. When the muscles increase their energy expenditure, they re-learn how to use carbohydrates rather than store them. Weight loss occurs not simply because of the calories burned, but because of a shift in metabolism. Exercise is also effective to relieve stress, a common cause of inflammation and insulin resistance.

-Avoid Wheat. Gluten generates inflammation and disrupts the insulin receptor, thereby worsening insulin resistance. Avoid flour-containing bread, pasta, cereal, and biscuits. If you do have flour, choose flour made from rice, oats, barley, spelt, and rye. Ordinary "flour" is wheat.

-Mediterranean diet. Newly diagnosed diabetics can reduce their need for medication by following the Mediterranean diet. Only 44% of patients on a Mediterranean diet required sugar lowering medication compared to 70% of patients who followed a standard low fat diet.

-Nutritional supplements and herbs. Chromium, magnesium, selenium and omega 3 fatty acids will improve insulin's effectiveness at the cell membrane. B-vitamins and amino acids assist the liver to remove pollutants. Antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E will act as natural anti-inflammatories. Gymnema and Bitter Melon have been documented to improve insulin sensitivity. Vitamin D should be supplemented once a deficiency has been determined on blood test.

-Correct Gut flora. Friendly bacteria in the intestine assist with weight loss. Changing the gut flora may improve insulin sensitivity and promote weight loss. (20) Intestinal flora is negatively affected by junk-food diet, antibiotics and Pill use. Lactobacillus supplements may be of benefit.

Source: http://www.sensible-alternative.com.au/metabolic-hormones/insulin-resistance

On a Budget? Learn Cheap Ways to Be Healthy

2011-03-27T06:17:00.000-05:00

Learn free or low cost ways to be healthy.

Anytime is a good time to save money, be healthy, and be informed. Making healthy choices can help prevent injury, disease, and disability. Stay healthy on the cheap by including smart choices that are low cost or free. Many are simple too.

Everyday Health

Quit smoking.
Smoking is expensive, and that doesn't include the long-term costs associated with chronic disease and other problems that can develop later. Quit now.

Need affordable health care?
Many programs are available through federally-funded and state sponsored programs that are free or low-cost. They include some hospitals, health centers, public health departments, and clinics. Some programs focus only on a specific health issue or screening program. Also, the health reform law will give many Americans health care and services they may not have been able to afford in the past. Some benefits are already available and others will become available by 2014.

Subscribe to text4baby. Get free health text messages for pregnant and new moms.Text4baby is a free service that provides pregnant women and new moms with free text messages each week on pregnancy and baby care health tips. These messages are timed to a woman's due date or the baby's date of birth. Sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) to receive free SMS text messages each week, timed to your due date or baby's date of birth.

Vaccines for Uninsured Children.
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program offers vaccines at no cost for eligible children through VFC-enrolled doctors. Find out if your child qualifies. Vaccinating on time means healthier children, families and communities

Avoid unnecessary medicines.
Antibiotics can kill bacteria but not viruses. Antibiotics and cough and cold medications will not cure most colds, coughs, flu, sore throats, or runny noses. These medicines can sometimes cause more harm than good. Save your money.

Information for Consumers (FDA).

Nutrition and Physical Activity

Be active.
Nothing fancy, expensive, or complicated required to be active. Come as you are. Regular physical activity may help lower your risk for many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancers, and osteoporosis. It also helps to control weight; contributes to healthy bones, muscles, and joints; and reduces falls among older adults. Adults should be active for at least 2½ hours a week. Include activities that raise your breathing and heart rate and that strengthen your muscles.

Beans instead of meat.
Use canned or dried beans in recipes instead of meat, which is more expensive. Traditional recipes made with meat such as chili, soups, and Mexican dishes like burritos are delicious with beans.

Get Smart as You Shop [PDF - 479KB ]

Breastfeed.
Both babies and mothers gain many benefits from breastfeeding. Breast milk is free, is easy to digest, and contains antibodies that can protect infants from infections. Women who breastfeed may also have lower rates of certain breast and ovarian cancers.

Buy canned or frozen fruits and veggies.
Depending on the recipe, canned and frozen veggies can work just as well as the fresh alternatives. They're also cheaper and last longer than fresh ones.

Buy seasonal.
Purchase fresh fruits and vegetables in season when they tend to be less expensive. Blend the fruit into a smoothie to take with you on the go!

Cut your own fruits and vegetables.
Buy whole fruits and vegetables instead of pre-cut or pre-packaged forms, which tend to be more expensive.

Get Smart as You Shop [PDF - 476KB]

Drink water. Rethink Your Drink. Choosing water keeps you from drinking something else that may be loaded with calories and sugar. People who drink sugar-sweetened beverages tend to consume more calories. For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle, and refill it throughout the day. Make water more appealing by keeping it cold in the fridge or by adding a slice of fruit for flavor. Drinking fluoridated water provides protection against tooth decay. Fluoridation is the least expensive way to deliver the benefits of fluoride to all residents of a community. Tap water is fine.

Grow your own food.
Growing your own vegetables is a budget-friendly option for getting your daily dose of colorful produce. A novice gardener can produce a variety of inexpensive fresh vegetables that can be included in any summer meal.

American Community Gardening Association

Have an "ingredient" potluck.
Do you have a favorite healthy recipe? When you invite your friends to come over, ask them to bring one of the ingredients, and then make the dish together!

Get Smart Entertaining [PDF - 435KB]

Limit food portions.
Take control of the amount of food that ends up on your plate. If eating out, split an entrée with a friend. Or, ask for a "to-go" box and wrap up half your meal as soon as it's brought to the table.

Store brands - a good deal.
Generic and store brands tend to cost less than name brands and have similar taste and nutrition.

Get Smart as You Shop [PDF - 479KB]

Use coupons.
Use coupons, and look in grocery store circulars for discounts on fruits and veggies that you need.

Get Smart Entertaining [PDF - 434KB]

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/BudgetForHealth/

8 Yoga Poses to Help You Stay Slim

2011-03-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

Women's Health Excerpt from Slim Calm Sexy Yoga by Tara Stiles

If you've dismissed yoga as a chill workout that's just a bunch of stretching and deep breathing, consider this: A growing pile of research backs its many physical and psychological benefits. Want to slim down and reshape your body—and feel really freakin' good? Read on.

Secret Slimming Powers

Yoga calms your mind, but it can't possibly help you lose weight, right? Wrong. For starters, you'll sweat, blast calories, and tone and shape your entire body, especially if you practice a more physically active style of yoga, such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, or Bikram (hot yoga). In fact, you can torch 400 calories in one Bikram class, roughly the same amount you'd burn by running for 40 minutes at a moderate pace—but with a lot less stress on your body.

That said, calorie burning is not where the bulk of yoga's weight-loss power lies. An added benefit of yoga, even from gentle styles, is that it helps you get a handle on what your body needs to be healthy. A study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found a strong link between yoga practice and weight maintenance, and researchers attribute it to "mindful" eating. Down-dog devotees, they say, learn to stay calm in the face of discomfort, and this tendency spills over into other parts of their lives—for instance, making it easier to turn down not-so-good-for-you foods, no matter how tempting they are.

The study found no such link between mindful eating and other types of physical activity, such as walking or running. Mindfulness is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to weight. In studies on what causes obesity, researchers have found that overweight people tend to underestimate how much they eat while overestimating their activity. In one study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, scientists tracked the diet and exercise habits of people who claimed they couldn't lose weight even though they cut calories. The upshot was that the volunteers had dramatically underreported their calories by 47 percent and overreported their activity by 51 percent. And their failed "diets" had nothing to do with sluggish metabolisms. When the researchers compared the participants' ability to burn calories with that of a control group, there was no difference.

Once you learn mindfulness, you'll be better able to figure out what makes your body and mind healthy. For example, maybe you'll start to notice how great your food tastes, and then you'll slow down so you can savor every delicious bite—which is a good thing, because studies have found that when you take your time at the table, you eat less.
Scientists at the University of Rhode Island had 30 volunteers eat two identical meals in a lab. During one, they were basically told to shovel the food down with a soup spoon. At the other, they were instructed to eat with a teaspoon, pause between bites, and chew each mouthful 20 to 30 times. The volunteers practically inhaled the first meal in a zippy nine minutes, on average. But when they lingered over their food, the meal stretched to nearly 30 minutes. And here's the kicker: They ate 10 percent less.

Researchers believe that when you eat more slowly, your body has more time to register fullness and satisfaction, so you stop feeling hungry before you dive into a second—or third—helping.

The Stress/Food/Weight Connection

Another crucial factor in yoga's pound-melting ability: It's proven to relax you—and that has a positive effect on your waistline. In a recent American Psychological Association survey of more than 1,800 people, 43 percent of respondents admitted they overeat when stressed. And women were more likely to stress-eat than men were.

Stress is like your own personal bodyguard that launches into defense mode in the face of a threat. At the center of this effort are your adrenal glands, which protect you by unleashing the hormones cortisol and adrenaline. You probably have a good idea what adrenaline does: It gives you an instant megashot of energy so you can deal with conflict or get away from it altogether (the fight-or-flight response). Cortisol is more like an overprotective mother whose sole mission is to feed and nurture you, and its effects are hard to miss: It can make you want to eat everything in sight, preferably foods that are high in fat and sugar, energy sources your body can use in a hurry.

Some scientists believe that cortisol also messes with signals that control appetite and feelings of fullness, which is why being stressed out may make you crave dessert even after a big meal. What's worse, when chronic stress causes your cortisol levels to stay high, it can have long-term effects on your weight, because the hormone encourages your body to store fat rather than burn it. Cortisol also lowers the production of testosterone, which is worth noting if you're trying to slim down. Chronically low testosterone can decrease muscle mass, which ultimately slows your metabolism. And this means you burn fat less efficiently. Not what you want!

But yoga can help reduce your stress and cortisol levels. Researchers measured levels of that hormone in female volunteers before and after they participated in yoga classes for a study published in the Medical Science Monitor. Their findings showed that the women's cortisol levels decreased after taking yoga. And another study, in Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, found that people who practiced yoga regularly for four years or more actually gained less weight over time than those who didn't do yoga.

The routine below builds mindfulness and helps rein in cortisol so you can eat better, kick-start your metabolism, and burn fat effectively.

Fry Fat on the Mat Routine

In this routine, your body will move through challenging positions that call upon all of your muscles to work in novel ways so that you burn the most fat. Holding these poses isn't easy, but it does wonders for building strength and focus.

Hold each pose for five deep inhales and exhales, unless noted otherwise, then repeat the entire sequence on the other side. Practice this routine four times a week and watch the fat melt away. Keep a towel by your side—you will sweat!
1. Plank

Get on your hand and knees. Tuck your toes under and straighten your legs so you're in a horizontal line. Bring your shoulder blades together, extend forward through the top of your head, and reach back through your heels. Hold for 60 seconds.
2. Down Dog

Come down on all fours. Spread your fingers wide on your mat. Tuck your toes, lift your hips up and back, and extend your legs. Press your shoulders toward the floor and relax your neck. Press your palms against the floor. Walk your feet back, pull up through your hips, and press your heels down.
3. Down Dog Split

From down dog, raise your right leg behind you, foot flexed. Keep your hips even with the floor. Reach the back of your leg straight up.
4. Down Dog, Knee to Forehead

From down dog split, inhale, rise up onto the toes of your left foot, and bring your right knee to touch your forehead. Keep your hips lifted high. Exhale and return to down dog split. Repeat four more times.
5. Low Lunge

Stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms at your sides. Step forward with your right foot. Bend forward from the waist and press your fingertips to the floor on each side of your right foot. Bend your knees slightly and step back with your left leg into a low lunge. Push through your left heel and sink your hips low.
6. High Lunge

From low lunge, lift your hips until your right thigh is parallel to the floor. Extend your arms straight up next to your ears and relax your shoulders. Put some weight onto your left foot, reach your heel out behind you for stability.
7. High Lunge with Twist

Reach your left arm forward and your right arm back, and turn your torso to the right. Relax your shoulders and look back over your right hand.
8. Rotated Triangle

Lower the fingertips of your left hand to the floor outside your right foot. Open your shoulders to the right and extend your right arm up. Bring your left foot forward about 12 inches and press your heel down so your toes point a little out to your left side. Straighten your legs

Vitamins and minerals that help with hypothyroidism

2011-03-15T19:09:00.000-05:00

Can hypothyroidism actually be helped by vitamins as well as other nutrients? Although they have been ignored for years in the medical community, there is mounting evidence that they can not only help with this condition, a deficiency of some nutrients may actually be one of the causes of it. There are millions of people that have this condition, and although it is considered to be quite common, it should never be ignored. If it is left untreated it may cause goiter, heart problems, as well as mental health issues and infertility, just to name a few of the possible complications.

What exactly is it?

Hypothyroidism, also referred to as an underactive thyroid, is a condition where your thyroid gland does not produce enough of certain types of hormones. Because of this, it will upset the balance of chemical reactions in your body and if it is not treated, it can very easily lead to a number of very serious health problems. There are some very effective treatments for this condition, but it is also believed that vitamins and other nutrients can also play a major role.

Because this disease can very easily lead to other complications, understanding the signs and symptoms as early as you can will help you identify it so you can seek medical attention to have it treated.

Symptoms:

Hypothyroidism has several real warning signs that you can watch for and if any of these signs persist for any period of time, you need to seek professional help. However, it also important to understand that with this condition these symptoms will not occur suddenly. In fact, they will do the complete opposite, as in most cases they will develop very slowly and can easily be spread out over several years.

The symptoms can vary tremendously depending on how bad the hormone deficiency that you have actually is. By far and away the most common symptoms will be fatigue as well as feeling sluggish, and because it develops very slowly, these signs can very easy be ignored and blamed on the aging process. However, what is really happening is that your metabolism is slowing down as a result of this imbalance, and not all of the symptoms that will begin to surface will be this general in scope.

The next symptom is actually quite unique and it is a gradual increased sensitivity to any type of cold weather. You may also start to develop pale and dry skin, a puffy face for no apparent reason, as well as constipation. Your voice may also start to become hoarse even when you drink a lot of fluids, and you will also start to gain weight without changing your eating habits. All of these symptoms can be directly related to this imbalance and the slowing of your metabolism.

However, the list of symptoms does not end there as you may also begin to have muscle pains and aches, tenderness and swelling, as well as muscle weakness. If you are female, your menstrual periods will gradually begin to become heavier and your fingernails as well as your hair may become very brittle. At this point, if the hypothyroidism is not treated, these symptoms can rapidly increase in severity.

There is also one very large misconception about hypothyroidism; it primarily affects women in middle age. Although this is quite common, it can also affect men, children, as well as infants. Babies can be born without a thyroid gland or have the same problem with it under-preforming. The signs to watch for in infants are yellowing in both the skin as well as the white of the eyes, frequent choking, or an abnormally large and protruding tongue. They can also develop a very puffy face but this symptom is quite hard to pick up on unless it is noticed by a professional.

Children and teenagers can also develop this condition and the symptoms to watch with this age group are a very poor growth pattern, a very slow development of permanent teeth, as well as abnormally slow mental development. As they reach the teenage years, they will also show signs of a very slow or delayed puberty.

Vitamins and Nutrients:

Hypothyroidism has very effective treatments in the form of a synthetic thyroid hormone, but there are also vitamins as well as other nutrients that can help. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding vitamin D, a deficiency of this vitamin, and its role in this condition as well as other thyroid problems. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that can be obtained in three different ways; exposure to sunlight, obtained from your diet, or supplemented.

However, the vast majority of the population does not get enough exposure to sunlight and does not get enough of this vitamin in their diet. Your body can manufacture this vitamin with sunlight exposure, but the majority of sunscreens that are used to prevent skin cancer can impede this process. Vitamin D has long been associated with bone health in that it helps to active calcium and phosphorous in your body, but it is now being linked to this condition as well. Dr. Theodore Friedman, an expert on thyroid diseases, recently published several papers after over 20 years of study, and expressed a very common theme with most thyroid patients; low levels of vitamin D.

This research suggests that this vitamin can interact with your body’s biochemistry and can either help with thyroid production, or it can do just the opposite; hinder it. It is suggested that some people may have genetic flaws where the intestines are not able to properly absorb this vitamin or it simply cannot use it as it is intended. The U.S. National Library of Medicine also has recent studies that suggest that too little vitamin D circulating in your body inhibits its ability to regulate as well as produce thyroid hormones.

Iodine is also a very critical nutrient that has for years been linked to hypothyroidism as it is critical for several thyroid functions. Too much iodine can interfere with this process, but in the vast majority of cases there is not enough iodine in your diet. If you use iodized salt or take a multi-vitamin, this will provide adequate amounts of this nutrient. Vitamin E is also very important as it helps with the absorption of iodine as well as assists with selenium metabolism which is also critical for normal thyroid functions. Selenium is one of the major components of an enzyme that helps to convert the thyroid hormones T4 to T3 and a deficiency of this mineral may impair thyroid functions.

Summary:

Hypothyroidism can take years to develop and you may not recognize the symptoms easily at first. However, the symptoms are the real key to catching this condition and if you make regular visits to a doctor, they can catch it very easily. If you supplement these nutrients in the form of a multi-vitamin, you may never develop it. If you do have, these nutrients may help control it.

References:

Hypothyroidism. The American Thyroid Association.

www.thyroid.org/patients/broch ures/Hypo_brochure.pdf.

www.goodhormonehealth.com

L-Carnitine Treats Coronary Artery Disease

2011-03-15T18:31:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 by Stephen Sinatra

L-carnitine, a water-soluble nutrient produced from the amino acids lysine and methionine, is found in all living tissue. The primary role of L-carnitine is to create ATP. L-carnitine transports fatty acids into mitochondrial membranes, where they are converted into ATP.

L-carnitine is particularly helpful in the treatment of coronary artery disease, as it helps deliver extra oxygen to blocked arteries. L-carnitine also prevents the production of toxic fatty acids. These malicious byproducts not only cause severe oxidative stress and damage cell membranes, over time they can also create changes throughout the heart that contribute to atherosclerosis.

L-carnitine can also improve blood circulation problems. It improves blood flow by supporting better use of oxygen in the tissues.

Supplemental L-carnitine comes in a number of forms. Any of them would be beneficial, but I prefer broad-spectrum products that incorporate all forms of the nutrient: L-carnitine fumarate, acetyl-L-carnitine, and propionyl-L-carnitine.

Take 500–1,000 mg two to three times daily (total daily dosage: 1–3 grams). Start at the low end of the dosage scale and work up until you achieve the desired effect. L-carnitine may require fine-tuning to obtain the optimal therapeutic blood level.

For more information on supplements for a wide variety of cardiovascular problems, visit www.drsinatra.com.

Eat More Fiber, Live Longer, Large Gov't Study Shows

2011-03-04T03:42:00.000-06:00

— Eat more fiber and you just may live longer.

That's the message from the largest study of its kind to find a link between high-fiber diets and lower risks of death not only from heart disease, but from infectious and respiratory illnesses as well.

The government study also ties fiber with a lower risk of cancer deaths in men, but not women, possibly because men are more likely to die from cancers related to diet, like cancers of the esophagus. And it finds the overall benefit to be strongest for diets high in fiber from grains.
Most Americans aren't getting enough roughage in their diets. The average American eats only about 15 grams of fiber each day, much less than the current daily recommendation of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men, or 14 grams per 1,000 calories. For example, a slice of whole wheat bread contains 2 to 4 grams of fiber.

In the new study, the people who met the guidelines were less likely to die during a nine-year follow-up period. The men and women who ate the highest amount of fiber were 22 percent less likely to die from any cause compared to those who ate the lowest amount, said lead author Dr. Yikyung Park of the National Cancer Institute.

The study, appearing in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine, included more than 388,000 adults, ages 50 to 71, who participated in a diet and health study conducted by the National Institutes of Health and AARP.

They filled out a questionnaire in 1995 or 1996 about their eating habits. It asked them to estimate how often they ate 124 food items. After nine years, more than 31,000 of the participants had died. National records were used to find out who died and the cause of death.
The researchers took into account other risk factors including weight, education level, smoking and health status and still saw lower risks of death in people who ate more fiber.
"The results suggest that the benefits of dietary fiber go beyond heart health," said Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health, who wasn't involved in the new research but co-authored an editorial in the journal.

The evidence for fiber's benefits has been strongest in diabetes and heart disease, where it's thought to improve cholesterol levels, blood pressure, inflammation and blood sugar levels. Fiber's benefits also may come from its theorized ability to bind to toxins and move them out of the body quicker. High-fiber diets can promote weight loss by making people feel full, which has its own health-promoting effects.

However it works, fiber may offer a prevention benefit against killers like pneumonia and flu, the new study suggests. The cancer benefit may have shown up only in the men because they're more likely than women to die from cancers related to diet, Park said.
Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables and beans. But fiber from grains was most strongly tied to the lowered risk in the study.

"That's what seemed to be driving all these relationships," said Lawrence de Koning of the Harvard School of Public Health, a co-author of the editorial. Whole grains also contain vitamins and minerals, which may play a role in reducing risk, he said. For that reason, supplements may not be as effective. "Nothing beats the original food," he said. He suggested substituting whole wheat bread for white bread as a simple way to increase fiber from grains.

What does a high-fiber diet look like?

A woman who wants to meet the 25 gram guidelines for daily fiber intake could eat one-third cup of bran cereal (9 grams), a half cup of cooked beans (10 grams), a small apple with skin (4 grams) and a half cup of mixed vegetables (4 grams).

To reach 38 grams, a man could eat all that – plus about 23 almonds (4 grams), a baked potato (3 grams), an oat bran muffin (3 grams) and an orange (3 grams).
Experts recommend adding fiber gradually to allow your digestive system time to get used to it.

CARLA K. JOHNSON 02/14/11 04:35 PM

Daytime Napping May Boost Heart Health

2011-03-03T10:36:00.000-06:00

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans Mar 1st 2011

Categories: News

Taking a daytime cat nap for up to an hour may be good for your heart and its reaction to psychological stress, new findings suggest.

Sleeping during the day seems to help the heart repair itself after a stressful event, according to a study by researchers at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania.

The authors say that participants who took a stress test and then slept at least 45 minutes had lower blood pressure on average than those who didn't sleep at all after the exercise.

"Daytime sleep may offer cardiovascular benefit by accelerating cardiovascular recovery following mental stressors," the researchers wrote in the paper, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Co-authors Ryan Brindle and Sarah Conklin looked at 85 healthy college students, dividing them into two groups. One was given the chance to nap for up to an hour after taking a mental stress test in the lab; the other wasn't.

Participants also had to fill out surveys asking about the quality of their sleep and do a cardiovascular reactivity test, which asked them to complete a difficult mental math problem, according to a summary of the findings.

The students' pulse rates and blood pressure were taken regularly throughout the exercise.

The authors found that daytime naps seemed to rejuvenate the students who were able to sleep, with those subjects reporting lower levels of sleepiness than the group that stayed awake. And while the blood pressure and pulses of both groups increased after the stress test, the nappers had much lower blood pressure readings on average than those who didn't sleep.

Brindle and Conklin say more work needs to be done to pinpoint the link between daytime naps and cardiovascular health and examine why a short daytime sleep may help the heart recover from stress.

Previous research has uncovered a link between lack of sleep and obesity, depression, cardiovascular problems and hypertension.

Why Meditate? Science Finds Clues

2011-03-03T10:30:00.000-06:00

How being mindful may make you happier

by Rachel Brand

Buddhists, yogis and ayurvedic doctors have said for centuries that meditation improves health and well-being. Now scientists are trying to prove it.
Several clinical studies have documented specific ways that meditating may help people stay healthier, sharpen mental focus and gain more power over their emotions. Some studies even show that the brain of someone who meditates may be physically different from the next guy’s.
Scientists say it’s a very new field of study. But their findings to date offer compelling confirmation to the more than 20 million Americans who meditate — and tell skeptics that those who are getting on the cushion every day might be onto something.

Can meditation make you happier?

When emotions wreak havoc, it helps to “get it out” — ranting to a therapist, friend or spouse, or writing about your feelings in a journal. Sitting down on a cushion to meditate is seemingly the polar opposite of this catharsis. But could it be that the two approaches are helpful for similar reasons?

Talking or writing about your feelings forces you to call them something. And one technique taught in mindfulness meditation is naming your emotions. It’s part of noticing and detaching from those emotions vs. letting them hijack your bliss. Meditation instructor Dianna Dunbar calls it “the mindfulness wedge.” It’s about “helping people develop that pause button,” she says, so they can observe emotions from the outside.

Two UCLA studies showed “that simply labeling emotion promotes detachment,” says David Creswell, Ph.D., a meditation researcher at the university who joined colleague Matthew D. Lieberman, Ph.D., in heading up the studies.
Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record brain activity and pinpoint where in the brain it occurs, Lieberman’s team found that assigning names to negative emotions turns down the intensity of activity in the amygdala — an almond-sized sector of the brain that acts like an alarm system: When you witness a car crash, argue with your spouse or get yelled at by your boss, it’s your amygdala’s job to set off a cascade of stress-related reactions.
But if you simply name the distressing event, Lieberman says, you can wield more power over your amygdala’s freak-out. “When you attach the word ‘angry,’” he explains, “you see a decreased response in the amygdala.”

Creswell’s 2007 study supported these findings. His team asked 27 undergraduates to fill out a questionnaire on how “mindful” they were — how inclined they were to pay attention to present emotions, thoughts or sensations. They found a striking difference between the brains of those who called themselves mindful and those who didn’t: Mindful patients showed more activity in the areas that calm down emotional response, known as the prefrontal cortex; and less activation in the amygdala.

Twenty-year meditation practitioner Joyce Bonnie says the UCLA findings aren’t surprising to her. But she says having that emotion-diffusing ability is one thing, and using it is another.
“It’s very challenging to bring what you practice on the meditation cushion out in a real-life situation,” says Bonnie, an independent filmmaker in Santa Monica, Calif. “When you’re actually in that moment — say someone is yelling at you — you have to remember to step back, say, ‘Oh, that’s anger I’m feeling,' and change what you do with that emotion, all in a millisecond. It takes a lot of practice.”

Still, the clinical results “may explain the beneficial health effects of mindfulness meditation,” Creswell says, “and suggest why mindfulness meditation programs improve mood and health.
“For the first time since [the Buddha’s] teachings,” he adds, “we have shown that there is actually a neurological reason for doing mindfulness meditation.”

Can meditation make you healthier?

Thirty-seven-year-old mom Nikki Ragonese has meditated for six years as one way to cope with painful degenerative osteoarthritis. Meditation, she says, makes it easier to accept her pain and the difficult emotions it fuels.
“Often when you feel something, you don’t acknowledge it,” Ragonese says. “And by avoiding that feeling, you perpetuate greater pain. Meditation helps me realize that I create my own feelings. If I’m in a state of frustration and I stop and observe it, I realize there’s another way to deal with the pain.”

Ragonese’s mindfulness meditation instructor in Boulder, Colo., therapist Dianna Dunbar, agrees. “I’ve seen patients who gain a greater sense of awareness of their pain become nonjudgmental observers of their pain,” she says. “They are less irritable, and more able to calm down and relax.”

Science is starting to churn out more evidence echoing Ragonese and Dunbar’s experience, showing signs that mindfulness meditation can help ease symptoms of conditions including psoriasis and hypertension as well as chronic pain.
Meditating also slows breathing rate, blood pressure and heart rate, and there’s some evidence that meditation may aid treatment of anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and a range of other ailments.

Can meditation make you smarter?

The buzz about meditation’s ability to turn out shiny, happy people makes you wonder: Do people who meditate have something different going on upstairs than non-meditators do?
A noted 2005 study by Sara Lazar, Ph.D., an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, aimed to find out which parts of the brain become active when a person practices mindfulness and meditation. Her team studied 20 people who meditate regularly and 20 who don’t.
The results were astounding: Brain regions associated with attention, sensory awareness and emotional processing — the cortex — were thicker in meditators. In fact, meditators’ brains grew thicker in direct correlation with how much they meditated.

The findings suggest that meditation can change the brain’s structure — perhaps because certain brain regions are used more frequently in the process of meditation, and therefore grow.
Lazar says it’s a “huge, huge, huge” leap to assert that meditators’ brains function better. “We really don’t know how meditation works,” Lazar cautions, stressing that scientists are merely uncovering “pieces of the puzzle.”

Yet for anyone accustomed to waiting for a chorus of nods from science before trying alternative methods, these tip-of-the-iceberg findings may be ample proof of what Eastern cultures have been saying for centuries: Meditation is good for you.

Source:
http://life.gaiam.com/article/why-meditate-science-finds-clues?utm_source=bluetext&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Life&RMID=Life_2011_03_03_Meditation_25PctGreen&RRID=11851261

Cracking the Cholesterol Myth - The Role of Eggs in Your Diet

2011-02-28T18:33:00.000-06:00

More than 40 Years of Research Supports the Role of Eggs in a Healthy Diet

Many Americans have shied away from eggs – despite their taste, value, convenience and nutrition – for fear of dietary cholesterol. However, more than 40 years of research have shown that healthy adults can eat eggs without significantly impacting their risk of heart disease.

And now, according to new United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition data¹ , eggs are lower in cholesterol than previously recorded. The USDA recently reviewed the nutrient composition of standard large eggs and results show the average amount of cholesterol in one large egg is 185 mg, a 14 percent decrease. The analysis also revealed that large eggs now contain 41 IU of Vitamin D, an increase of 64 percent.

Studies demonstrate that healthy adults can enjoy an egg a day without increasing their risk for heart disease, particularly if individuals opt for low cholesterol foods throughout the day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the American Heart Association recommend that individuals consume, on average, less than 300 mg of cholesterol per day. A single large egg contains 185 mg cholesterol.

Several international health promotion organizations – including Health Canada, the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Australian Heart Foundation and the Irish Heart Foundation – promote eggs as part of a heart-healthy diet, recognizing that they make important nutritional contributions.²
^REFERENCES¹In 2010, a random sample of regular large shell eggs was collected from locations across the country to analyze the nutrient content of eggs. The testing procedure was last completed with eggs in 2002, and while most nutrients remained similar to those values, cholesterol decreased by 12% and vitamin D increased by 56% from 2002 values.

² Klein CJ. The scientific evidence and approach taken to establish guidelines for cholesterol intake in Australia, Canada, The United Kingdom, and The United States. LSRO. 2006 www.lsro.org. Accessed November 2006.

2011-02-21T18:04:00.000-06:00

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Daily diet soda tied to higher risk for stroke, heart attack

2011-02-09T12:59:00.000-06:00

61 percent higher risk of vascular events for those who drank diet soda each day

By Linda Carroll -msnbc.com contributor

Just as you were starting to feel virtuous for having switched from sugary sodas to low- or no-calorie substitutes, a new study comes along suggesting that diet sodas might be bad for your head and your heart. The study, which followed more than 2,500 New Yorkers for nine or more years, found that people who drank diet soda every day had a 61 percent higher risk of vascular events, including stroke and heart attack, than those who completely eschewed the diet drinks, according to researchers who presented their results today at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles.

Still, the researchers aren’t ready to tell consumers to skip diet sodas. More studies need to be done before that happens, said the report’s lead author Hannah Gardener, an epidemiologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

“I think diet soda drinkers need to stay tuned,” Gardener said. “I don’t think that anyone should be changing their behaviors based on one study. Hopefully this will motivate other researchers to do more studies.”

That advice may not stop some from skipping their diet drinks. “This is pretty scary,” said Denise Gainey, a 49-year-old administrative assistant from Amelia, Va. Worried that she might have inherited a higher risk of heart disease, Gainey wants to be careful. “I guess I’ll just be drinking a lot more water,” she said.

For the new study, researchers surveyed 2,564 north Manhattan residents about their eating behaviors, exercise habits, as well as cigarette and alcohol consumption. The study volunteers were also given physical check-ups that included blood pressure measurements and blood tests for cholesterol and other factors that might affect the risk for heart attack and stroke.

The increased likelihood of vascular events remained even after Gardener and her colleagues accounted for risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels. Pointing the finger more squarely at diet drinks, the researchers found no increased risk among people who drank regular soda.

Does this mean there’s something in diet sodas that hurts our blood vessels? Nobody knows the answer to that question, yet, Gardener said. There could be something else that people who drink diet sodas have in common, she explained. For example, it’s possible that people who drink diet sodas are replacing those saved sugar calories with other unhealthy choices, Gardener said.

That explanation makes a lot of sense to Dr. Nehal N. Mehta, director of inflammatory risk cardiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Although the researchers know the total calories study volunteers were consuming, they weren’t able to account for unhealthy eating habits, Mehta said. “Maybe along with the diet soda, people are grabbing a Big Mac and a large fries,” Mehta said. “Soda may not be the villain. It may be the other things people consume in association with diet soda. After all, what goes better with pizza or fries than a soda?”

That said, it is always possible that there is something about diet soda that leads to vascular problems, Mehta said, adding that this is the second study to associate diet soda with health issues. An earlier study found that diet soda consumption was linked to an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, which is also a risk factor for heart problems and stroke.

Caramel coloring linked to vascular issues Further, Mehta said, there are animal studies suggesting a link between vascular problems and caramel-containing products. Among other things, caramel is the ingredient that gives the dark color to sodas like Coke and Pepsi, he explained. Despite all of that, you probably don’t want to give up diet soda until — and if — larger studies confirm the results of this one, Mehta said.

That is, unless you’re someone with a lot of risk factors for stroke or heart disease, said Dr. Tudor Jovin, an associate professor of neurology and medicine and director of the Stroke Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

“People with a lot of risk factors for vascular disease, might want to reduce the amount of diet soda they consume,” Jovin said. “Those risk factors would include high blood pressure, diabetes high cholesterol, smoking, a family history of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and a history of cardiovascular events.”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41479869/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/41491546?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#

What Are the Benefits of Unsweetened Cranberry Juice?

2011-02-05T15:18:00.000-06:00

The cranberry plant is native to North America and is a member of the Ericaceae family---the same family as blueberries---according to the Cranberry Institute. A low-growing, woody perennial plant, it produces fat-free berries rich in minerals, vitamins and phytonutrients. These nutrients provide several benefits that make drinking cranberry juice a healthy dietary option. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends that adults drink 3 or more fluid oz. of pure cranberry juice each day, or about 10 oz. of cranberry juice cocktail. Whenever possible, choose organic, unsweetened brands. Speak to your doctor about drinking cranberry juice if you're on medications or taking other supplements or herbs.

Urinary Tract Infections

The ability of cranberries to treat urinary tract infections, or UTIs, in women is well-known. This condition affects about 11 million American women each year, states the Cranberry Institute. As they report, cranberries contain proanthocyanidins--antioxidants that help prevent bacteria from adhering to the lining of the urinary tract. As a result, bacteria cannot reproduce and cause full-blown infections.

Peptic Ulcer Prevention

A study on the efficacy of cranberry juice on H. pylori bacteria conducted by Peking University and the Beijing Institute for Cancer Research found that 500 mL of cranberry juice daily reversed positive H. pylori results in subjects aged 11 to 48 after 90 days. Researchers believe the ability of cranberry to prevent bacteria adherence works effectively on peptic ulcers, which generally originate as stomach or upper intestinal infections and often lead to gastric cancer.

Cardiovascular Health

Moderate levels of vitamin C in cranberry juice offer a major boost in antioxidants that protect the heart and arteries from cellular damage. Vitamin C also aids the production of collagen, a protein necessary for creating healthy blood vessels. According to research conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, the polyphenols found in cranberries prevent cardiovascular diseases by reducing the oxidation of cholesterol lipoprotein, or LDL, also known as bad cholesterol. and blood pressure and inhibiting blood clots in blood vessels. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, cranberries antioxidants help relax blood vessels and fight plaque buildup in the arteries. The Cranberry Institute states that cranberries also improve platelet function, which helps boost heart health.

Breast Cancer

Cranberries have known anti-carcinogenic properties. The most common cancer affecting American women is breast cancer, which is also a main cause of cancer-related death. In a 2006 study published in the journal "Cancer Letters," researchers found that a cranberry phytochemical extract at 10 to 50 mg/mL was able to stop the proliferation of human breast cancer cells.

Oral Health

Another benefit of drinking unsweetened cranberry juice is that it can help fight cavities by preventing the bacteria S. mutans from sticking to tooth enamel.

cranberry image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com

Want to Lose Weight? Turn Your Thermostat Down

2011-01-28T12:23:00.000-06:00

By Deborah Huso Jan 27th 2011 12:31PM

If you're among the many Americans who have been enduring weeks of bitter cold and snowstorms, here's a thought that may help you get through the winter a little easier: increasing exposure to cold temperatures could increase weight loss.

A recently published article in Obesity Reviews presents evidence gathered from Dr. Fiona Johnson of the University College London and her colleagues supporting the theory that higher indoor temperatures and reduced exposure to cold may be a contributor to rising obesity rates.
Researchers believe that cooler external temperatures force our bodies to burn more energy to keep warm.

"By lowering the room temperature you can increase the speed of weight loss," Dr. Eric Braverman, author of "The Younger (Sexier) You," told AOL Health. "For those looking to lose weight, it can be an additional strategy for added impact." He adds that it should not be the only strategy, however.

According to Braverman, decreased temperatures have been shown to burn brown fat in the body. Brown fat, or stored calories, responds to mild cold and burns energy to create heat. "The cold actually helps activate the brown fat burning process," explains Braverman.

Studies have shown that obese individuals have less brown fat than skinny people. But brown fat loses its effectiveness in burning energy if it's not used and exposed to cooler temperatures.

Johnson and her team documented that household heating rates have increased in the United Kingdom as well as the United States over the last decade. In addition, people are not only turning up their thermostats a degree or two, but they're leaving them turned up all the time, not even turning them down at bedtime.

People are also spending less time outdoors. This, combined with the higher indoor temperatures, means most people are probably not exposed to the most effective level of cold for fat burning. So people are using less energy to maintain their body temperatures, and without that exposure to cold, humans seem to lose some of their ability to warm up on their own.

That doesn't mean if you turn down your thermostat you'll lose five pounds. Cutting the heat might tempt you to put on extra layers and eat more, but evidence suggests that even adding a sweater and snacking on a sandwich will not completely cancel out the potentail fat-burning effects of cold exposure.

Johnson told Discovery News evidence is still lacking. Researchers do not know how cold a person would have to be for what period of time in order for these effects to take place.

Barverman thinks Johnson's team may be onto something, however. "The Southern belt is much more obese than the Northern belt in America," he says, adding he believes the exposure to cold may play a role.

Is the Wii Really Good for Your Health?

2011-01-25T16:47:00.000-06:00

By Tracy Samantha Schmidt Thursday, Feb. 01, 2007

A week after Nintendo's Wii debuted in November 2007, the Wall Street Journal reported that the gaming console was leaving some users as sore as the gym often does. Unlike traditional hand-held video games, where users sit on the couch exercising little more than their thumbs, the Wii (pronounced "we" not "why") features digital sensors that let users virtually play the game. In Wii Sports, a game that comes with the console, users mimic the motions used in sports like bowling, tennis and baseball. In other words, the game may be virtual, but the physical exertion is very real.
So much so that, according to the Journal, gamers complained of "aching backs, sore shoulders — even something some have dubbed "Wii elbow." Nintendo spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan downplayed the report, saying the company hadn't received any complaints from users about soreness. "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more," she said. "It was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement."

But that's where she may be wrong. Not only have some gamers started turning the Wii and other similar active gaming consoles into a new form of exercise, but medical researchers are touting their health potential for more than just weight loss. A research team at the University of Toronto is developing a "therapeutic video game" to treat children who suffer from hemiplegic cerebral palsy, a condition that can partially paralyze one side of the body. If the children regularly use their weaker side, their motor function can improve. The problem is getting the children to do so outside of therapy sessions. Active video games might do the trick, thought William Li, an undergraduate engineering student at the University of Toronto who is conducting research at the university's Bloorview Kids Rehab teaching hospital.

With university researchers, he devised a game console that requires the children to use their dominant hand to hold down a button on their chair. With the weaker hand, the children can play an active video game. "It's a lot of fun to use, and the movements are the types of things that might be promoted in physical therapy or occupational therapy," Li says. "[And] the kids don't have to feel different. This is a game they can take home and play with siblings and friends."
Wii's psychological impact may even speed up the recovery process. Mary Jane Zamora, who lives in Redondo Beach, Calif., has battled breast cancer since she was diagnosed in February 2005. After a round of chemotherapy before Christmas in December, she was too tired to get off the couch. Then her grown daughters brought over a Wii. Together they played bowling, tennis and golf. "It got a little exhausting," Zamora says, but she was hooked and began playing on her own every day. Soon after joining a local bowling league, she was named the league's Most Improved Player. "What this game did for me was encourage me that I could still do these kinds of things," she says. "It came around when I needed it. I can see where people could really benefit from being able to interact without having do to much physical exertion."

But weight loss is still probably the biggest health benefit the Wii will have for users. Active video games like the Wii can fight child obesity, according to a report published by the Mayo Clinic in the January issue of Pediatrics. In that study, researchers found that children burned three times as many calories playing "active" video games versus playing traditional hand-held video games. Because the study was done before the Wii debuted, researchers tested Sony's EyeToy and Microsoft's Xbox. But Lorraine Lanningham-Foster, the report's lead researcher, expects the Wii to have the same effect. "If children are up moving around versus sitting down, then they're going to burn more calories," she says.

In December Mickey DeLorenzo, a computer programmer in Philadelphia, hypothesized that he could lose weight by playing the Wii for 30 minutes a day. He lost nine pounds in six weeks and is on his way to becoming the next Jared of Subway fame. In January DeLorenzo signed a book deal, tentatively titled The Wii Workout and teamed up with Traineo.com, a social networking site for dieters and fitness buffs, to feature his new regime. "It's becoming something like a Richard Simmons show," says DeLorenzo, who's received dozens of fan emails. "People will write, 'You've inspired me to buy a Wii and start working out.'"

Two months after dismissing the Wii's exercising potential, Nintendo spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan now embraces it. "One of our hopes was that people would find a way to enjoy the Wii sitting on the couch or getting up and moving their body around," she says. "This huge fitness craze was more than we had anticipated."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1584697,00.html#ixzz1C5bjdDC2

Eating Blueberries May Prevent Artery Damage

2011-01-09T01:33:00.000-06:00

By Better Health Research News Desk • Dec 20th, 2010 • Category: ,

Increased blueberry consumption may reduce the risk of developing atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition.
This is because the fruit is a high source of antioxidants, or nutrients that remove free radicals from the body. And free radicals can lead to several health complications, including cardiovascular problems.

Over the course of 20 weeks, researchers observed the effects of a blueberry-enriched diet on mice with atherosclerotic lesions. The team then compared these animals with a control group, which also suffered from the same artery damage.

As a result of eating the blueberry diet, lesions on two aortic arteries were 39 and 58 percent smaller than those found on the same arteries of the control group. The researchers also found that both groups of mice had an apolipoprotein-E deficiency, which is associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis.

The investigators concluded that these findings may contribute to developing future treatments for atherosclerosis. Also, the team hopes that blueberry consumption may be used during trials specializing in artery health among newborns, adolescents and teenagers.

In addition to eating blueberries, a study conducted at the Temple University School of Medicine found that consuming brown rice can improve cardiovascular health.

Enzyme Found to Cause Clogged Arteries

2011-01-09T01:15:00.000-06:00

By Mark Vavoulis • Dec 2nd, 2009 • Category: , True Health News

A new study has identified an enzyme responsible for causing clogged arteries.
Researchers in London say the matrix metalloproteinase-8 enzyme (MMP8) has been shown to play a crucial role in raising blood pressure and causing abnormal build-up of cells in the arteries—both of which increase the risk of heart disease.

"Our research tells us that this enzyme plays a crucial role in the build-up of fatty deposits in the arteries which causes heart disease," said Shu Ye from the University of London.

The study, appearing in the journal Circulation Research, tested two groups of mice—one of which was genetically altered to not produce the MMP8 enzyme. Both groups were fed a Western-style diet high in fat and cholesterol. The mice which lacked the enzyme had clearer arteries and lower blood pressure.

Tests on humans found that out of 2,000 patients undergoing artery testing, 25 percent had a similar version of the gene for MMP8. They also had more clogged arteries.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S.

The Mayo Clinic says supplements containing blond psyllium, coenzyme Q10, flaxseed and omega-3 fatty acids may be effective in lowering cholesterol and preventing some types of heart disease.