Daily Health Tips

5 Low-Cal Game Day Snacks

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:48:00 +0000

Combine 1 month of holiday feasting with 1 football season of noshing on high-calorie snacks, and what have you got? Double the size in belly, hips, and thighs. But cheer up! We've got diet snack solutions to help.
That's right. Game day food makeovers that look and taste like the originals. Your guests won't even know they're low in fat (and you'll stay in your skinny jeans till baseball season).

Lite Wings: Cut the saturated fat and sodium with these cornmeal-crusted boneless buffalo wings. Serve them with a light blue-cheese dip.
Pizza-to-go: For maximum calorie control, make it yourself. If convenience is a priority, order a thin-crust veggie pizza from Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's. All three can deliver a pizza that weighs in at less than 250 calories a slice.
Chips and dip: Serve baked chips with a Greek-yogurt-based fat-free dip. At about 15 calories a tablespoon, you can have more than a handful.
Chocolate fix: Make your own 100-calorie fudge brownies using applesauce instead of oil to keep them moist. Short on time? Splurge on a box of Erin Baker's Organic Brownie Bites. They're only 90 calories each.
Brewski: Okay, so light beers don't have the alcohol (carbs, to you) of full-strength brew. But if you're counting calories, these four (at 70 calories or less) can't be beat: Budweiser Select 55, Miller Genuine Draft 64, Beck's Premier Light, and Pabst Pearl Light.

6 Reasons to Get a Flu Shot This Year

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Did you decide to skip your flu shot this year? If so, you might want to rethink that. Here's why:
Getting the shot is the single best way for nearly everyone to prevent the flu, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So, what's stopping you? Here are 6 common excuses, and why you should reconsider:

It's too late. It's true, getting a flu shot early in the season offers the best protection, but the shot is effective anytime, even if you wait until December. Flu activity typically peaks in January or February and can last as late as May.
I'm healthy. The flu vaccine is especially important for high-risk people (pregnant women, young kids, older folks, and anyone with a compromised immune system), but the rest of us need it, too. Having the shot will prevent you from wasting precious vacation days or (worse!) going to work sick and sharing the virus with your coworkers.
I had a flu shot last year. Smart move! Get another one this year. The vaccine is reformulated annually to protect against strains of the flu virus predicted to be most widespread.
The flu shot always makes me sick. The flu vaccine is formulated from dead or inactive viruses, so it can't make you sick. If you do get sick, chances are you were exposed to the virus before getting the shot or you picked up a virus not included in the vaccine.
I live in a warm climate. The flu virus becomes active once temperatures drop below 60 degrees, but a warm climate doesn't offer much protection. According to CDC stats, the flu was as widespread last year in the balmy Southwest as it was in the frigid Northeast.
I hate needles. Ask for a nasal spray flu vaccine instead. It's approved for healthy people between the ages of 2 and 49. (The nasal spray isn't approved for pregnant women, people 50 and older, and anyone with a weakened immune system; they'll need to grin and bear the shot.)

3 Reasons to Curb High Blood Sugar

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:44:00 +0000

If you have diabetes, prediabetes, or blood sugar on the high side of normal, we have some sound reasons why you should get your blood sugar in check.
No doubt you already know about diabetes' scary complications, from heart disease to blindness and nerve damage, but did you know that diabetes can take a huge toll on your personal life, too? According to data we analyzed from 1 million RealAgers, it can impact your life in 3 key ways:

1. Relationships. People with diabetes are far less likely than nondiabetics to spend time with friends or relatives. They're also more than twice as likely as those without diabetes to say they're unhappily married. That's not surprising. Diabetes can make you prone to depression and anxiety, both of which are hard on relationships. It can also put the brakes on your sex life by causing vaginal dryness in women, and low testosterone and erectile dysfunction in men.

2. Depression. People with diabetes were twice as likely as the general population to suffer from depression. Diabetes may cause changes in the brain that contribute to depression, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The stress and expense of managing an all-encompassing condition like diabetes also can make you more vulnerable to depression.

3. Finances. Diabetics are three times more likely than nondiabetics to report severe financial stress. This may be because type 2 diabetes hits low-income communities especially hard, but diabetes is expensive no matter where you live. According to the American Diabetes Association, people newly diagnosed with diabetes spend $4,174 a year more on medical costs than those who don't have diabetes. That figure goes up another $158 every year after that.
The bad news: Diabetes can affect more than your physical health. The good news: You can prevent these complications by managing your condition and keeping your blood sugar under control. What if you don't have diabetes, but are at risk for it?

Ease Work Stress

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 19:13:00 +0000

Do you work with people who are cranky, antsy, or fed up to the point of negatively acting out toward you and others? If so, you're not alone. A recent survey says 43% of Americans have been targets of workplace rudeness no thanks to a shaky economy.
Here are three great reasons you shouldn't put up with it:

It infects your home life. Rudeness has a ripple effect. Bringing home bad vibes can make things tense there. Rinse off tension with a stress-relieving walk at the end of the day.

It's a health threat. Negativity and chronic stress boost your blood pressure and the threat of heart disease and lung problems. Being positive and polite does just the opposite. Give stress the pink slip and avoid these chronic diseases.

It's bad for business. Half of all workers who've been targets of a nasty work situation waste work time dodging or worrying about the next attack. One in five doesn't work as hard, and one in 10 finds ways to spend less time on the job. Work stress costs the economy $300 billion a year, and plenty of it is "people stress."

If you're stuck in a toxic work environment, try these steps to help you rise above the ugliness and bring back respect:

Practice the Golden Rule. Respect others, look for the best in people, speak kindly, and bite your tongue when you're about to gossip about a coworker. Really listen to colleagues. Genuine kindness will help you build stronger connections and give your longevity a boost.

Outsmart the office jerk. Every watercooler's got one: the complainer who always sees the dark side. To protect yourself, consider changing your break time to avoid the verbal toxin. And think upbeat thoughts after a run-in.

Find an ally. If there's rampant incivility at work, talk with your boss or have a chat with human resources (especially if you're a target). Business-psychology experts emphasize that real change only comes from the top.

Find meaning in what you do. Work's not easy these days, but renewing your commitment to your job can help you shrug off the ill effects of incivility (and make you nicer, too). Even if you have to dig, find satisfaction and purpose in all that you do -- even if that means finding a new passion or retraining for a new job.

Give Stress the Pink Slip

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:58:00 +0000

Got a few minutes, but not a few bucks? In less time than it takes to eat a sandwich, you can give stress the pink slip -- and reduce your risk for everything from heart disease, diabetes, and snapping at your spouse to high blood pressure, sleep problems, and less-than-stellar immunity.
And it won't cost you a dime. That's good news, because escaping to a fabulous tropical resort sounds like a good idea, but it becomes a source of high anxiety when you get the bill. Not so when you try these three fast, free tension tamers:

Close your eyes and follow your breath. Regularly meditating (at your desk, before you start your commute, even before you get out of bed in the morning) counteracts the toxic effects of stress. Pay attention to your breath as you slowly inhale and exhale. Try putting your fingers over your belly button to help stay focused. Yes, your mind will wander. Just invite it to listen to your breath again.

Read the comics, or call your funniest friend. Laughing increases blood flow and relaxes blood vessels. It reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone that increases fat accumulation in your belly and makes your kidneys retain salt and water, which boosts your blood pressure.

Relax your face and neck. Scrunch your face tightly for 15 seconds, then release slowly. Repeat several times. Repetitive contraction and relaxation helps release tension.

Walk to Leave Your Stress Behind

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:56:00 +0000

Here's one walk that can help you unwind and unload some of the stress that may be weighing you -- and your looks -- down:

Step outside and leave your stresses -- and your iPod -- behind.
Take in the details of your surroundings -- the buzz of traffic, the chirp of a bird, the curvature of plants and trees, the precise color of the sky, the shape of moving clouds.
You will find yourself becoming hyperaware and in the moment. At this point, think about what you are thankful for in your life. It can be general or specific: your health, your family, your experiences at work, your life partner, your children, your last birthday party, and so on.
Let your mind and memory run free.

Becoming very present like this gets you thinking in a whole new light and connecting in ways you never imagined. You also get inspired by thinking more broadly rather than focusing on your own inner world and trivial frustrations. It's a great way to beat down stress while at the same time appreciating where you are right now. Also, one of Dr. Amy Wechsler's seven habits for healthy skin (number four, to be exact) entails focusing on the good things. When you're done with your walk, take 5 minutes to write down some of your revelations in a journal.

Are You Sleeping Your Life Away?

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 19:44:00 +0000

We all need a good night's sleep -- regularly -- to keep us on our physical, mental, and emotional game, but is it possible to get too much sleep?

It seems so. Too many ZZZs might actually shorten your life, according to some research. What counts as enough, but not too much, sleep? That's tricky, because sleep -- like underwear -- isn't a one-size-fits-all proposition. Your ideal sleep prescription depends somewhat on how much you're sleeping now, according to a study of more than 10,000 people. Here's the breakdown:

When people who usually slept 5 or 6 hours a night bumped up their nightly ZZZs to 7 or 8 hours, they added years to their lives. Use this bedtime checklist of do's and don'ts to boost your time between the sheets.
When people who normally slept 7 to 8 hours got more sleep, their risk of dying early rose 75%.
When people who were comfortable sleeping 6 to 8 hours a night cut their sleep short, they didn't do well, and raised their mortality risk 62% over their peers.

Goldilocks had it right. When it comes to sleep, you need to find what's right for you (probably between 7 and 8 hours). If you're having trouble sleeping at night or staying awake during the day, see a doc to determine if something other than your time with the sandman is the cause.

Plastic vs. Paper Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:04:00 +0000

Paper or plastic? That is the question. But either one you choose has a negative impact on the environment.
Here are some facts about paper and plastic shopping bags:
In the U.S. 40 billion grocery bags are used each year; 30 billion are plastic, 10 billion are paper. Worldwide, between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are consumed annually.
A family of four uses five to ten plastic or paper grocery bags per week. That equals between 600 and 1,200 bags per shopper each year.
Because plastic bags are lighter than paper bags, it takes four or five bags to hold the same amount of groceries as one standard size paper bag.
Plastic bags are expected to take between 20 and 1000 years to break down in the environment and in the process release toxins into the water and soil, whereas in the open environment paper bags take about a month to decompose.
Plastic bags have been seen as far north as the Arctic Ocean, as far south as the southern end of South America, and one expert predicts that plastic bags will wash up on Antarctica within ten years.
Over 100,000 birds, whales, seals, turtles and other wildlife worldwide are killed by plastic garbage every year.
Plastic bags are the second-leading cause of suffocation among babies.
It requires 20 to 40 percent less energy to manufacture two plastic bags than to create one paper bag.
Paper bags are made from trees, a renewable resource while plastic bags are manufactured from petroleum. It requires 14 million trees a year to produce 10 billion bags or 12 million barrels of oil to make 100 million plastic bags annually.
Some paper bags are made from virgin forest while others are made from recycled paper. Plastic bags are made from virgin petroleum.
Only 3 percent of plastic bags, or 20% of paper bags produced in America are recycled. The majority of both plastic and paper bags end up in landfills, others will end up disfiguring the environment.
Both the manufacturing of plastic or paper bags pollutes water and air with toxic chemicals which pour into the nations waterways and find their way through the food chain.
Neither paper or plastic bags decompose in landfills because of the lack of water, light and oxygen.
The solution? Canvas and cloth bags. While on the increase, studies show that less than one percent of Americans currently bring cloth or canvas bags to the grocery store. Become a trend setter and start showing your care of the environment by carrying your own canvas bag.

Drink This Beverage for a Better Brain

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:30:00 +0000

Can't decide whether to order wine with dinner? Here's a little tidbit to help you make up your mind: Deciding "yes" might protect you from dementia down the road.
A review of the findingsas suggests older adults who indulge in a daily glass (one if you're a woman, two if you're a man) of their favorite alcoholic beverage (wine, beer, or cocktails) are significantly less likely to develop age-related cognitive decline or dementia compared to folks who don't drink at all.

Booze for the Brain
How does imbibing do this? Researchers think the daily habit may protect against inflammation-inducing proteins in the brain, including B-amyloid -- a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer's disease. Other findings suggest that moderate drinking can boost cerebral blood flow by dilating vessels in the brain. One part of alcohol's brain-protective equation: It's thought that moderate social drinking may have a cumulative effect over many years in reducing the long-term risk of age-related cognitive decline. (Related: Have your eyes checked to stave off Alzheimer's disease.)

Think It Through
A word of caution: Some people are more prone to alcoholism than others, so if the disease runs in your family, or you've had a spot or two of binge drinking in the past, consider adopting alternative strategies to keep your noggin' humming along. A light drinking habit that turns into a heavy one can damage, rather than protect, your brain.

How Eye Exams Keep Your Brain Young

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:29:00 +0000

When was your last eye exam? It's possible your answer could affect your risk of Alzheimer's.
In a new study, people with vision problems who failed to visit the eye doctor -- or who left their vision problems untreated -- were nine times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. Time for a checkup?

The Vision/Cognition Connection
To be clear, researchers don't think vision problems are a direct cause of Alzheimer's disease. But untreated eye problems could keep people from engaging in the types of activities that are good for your brain -- like reading, playing games, and even walking and socializing.

Prioritize Your Eyes
Regardless of the connection between untreated eye problems and cognitive decline, there are lots of other good reasons to see your eye-care specialist regularly. The most important? Sight-robbing eye conditions like glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy typically don't have any early warning signs. Regular eye exams are the only way to spot them and treat them early.

Eye exam coming up? Take along this list of top questions to ask your doctor.

5 Ways to Skirt Holiday Weight Gain

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Want a guilt-free way to feast on holiday fare without loading up on all the button-popping, belly-bulging calories? No problem. Just use this 5-step holiday action plan.

Replace temptations. Piling up holiday "goodies" (think pumpkin pie, cookies, and fudge) in plain sight can prompt you to eat twice as much, twice as fast. Instead, keep alternate goodies, such as walnuts, pistachios, cinnamon-spice tea, juicy oranges, and ruby-red pomegranates, within easy reach. For your holiday table, try tossing together this recipe from EatingWell: Winter Salad with Roasted Squash & Pomegranate Vinaigrette
.
Don't skip exercise. Just make it short and sweet. Sticking with your routine during the busy holidays can be tougher than finding a radio station not playing Jingle Bells. Go for three 10-minute walks each day for a total of 30 minutes, and you're good. Too cold out for a walk?

Choose libations wisely. Beer and red wine both raise your appetite-triggering hormones -- a sure-fire prompt for a return trip to the holiday buffet table. Choose a chardonnay or Riesling instead. These white wines didn't have the same hunger-boosting effect in one study.

Use buffet-table strategies. You're less likely to inhale hearty helpings from every dish if you check out the entire spread first. We call it "eye your pie before you try." Stake out a seat where you can't see the feast, and choose only one or two specialties (Uncle Eddie's meatballs or Aunt Edna's spinach dip, for example) instead of three or four. You eat more calories when you have more choices.

Practice moderation, not deprivation. Splurge a little at parties, but eat sensibly the rest of the week. Get the skim-milk latte at your coffee shop, not the fancy holiday-spice coffee drink. Tote fruit and nuts or veggies and hummus to work for snacks, so it's easy to bypass the latest cookie mountain in the break room.

With moves like these, you'll wake up on New Year's Day wearing the same size, or even one size smaller.

Coffee Beats Skin Cancer Two Ways

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Could your morning cup of Joe beat back skin cancer? It might. And it seems you may get equal protection from your java whether you sip it or slather it.
It's the caffeine in coffee that seems to do the trick. Numerous animal studies have already found that ingesting caffeine protects against certain types of skin cancer. Now, a new study suggests that caffeine-based lotions may prevent the sun's UV radiation from sparking skin cancer in humans, too.

Cancer-Curbing Coffee?
In the study, human skin cells were first bathed in caffeine in a lab dish and then exposed to UVB radiation. The caffeine not only blocked two key mechanisms that trigger the birth of skin tumors, it also caused the death of UVB-damaged skin cells that could otherwise turn cancerous. More research is needed to confirm whether caffeine in sunscreen will protect as well as it did in a petri dish, but it can't hurt to ask your dermatologist or pharmacist about available caffeine-containing sunscreens. (There are a few on the market today.) Check your sunscreen's label for these other protective ingredients, too.

From the Cup or Tube?
Since sunlight-induced skin cancer is the most common form of cancer (up to 2 million cases of non-melanoma cancer each year), caffeine, whether from a cup or a tube, could be one of the least expensive ways to protect your skin. If you get the jitters from coffee or other caffeinated beverages, simply stick to decaf and use a caffeine-containing sunscreen.

Watch Out: When your 401(k) Gets Smaller, This Gets Bigger

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:11:00 +0000

If tough economic times have turned zipping up your jeans into Mission Impossible, you're not alone. New data is more revealing than most celebs' Oscar-night outfits: Financial worries prompt 1 in 10 to snack more and have made 48% of women and 39% of men gain weight. Worse, that weight is in the wrong place: the waist. We're not talking 1 or 2 ounces: One-quarter of us packed on more than 10 pounds, and 1 in 16 gained more than 20 pounds. It gives the pain of tightening your belt a whole new meaning.

Sound familiar? If your waistline is enlarging faster than the latest unemployment statistics, do this before you grab the celery sticks: Head for a hot bubble bath . . . or a brisk walk . . . or a cup of coffee with a friend. Truth is, you need a crash course in cortisol reduction more urgently than you need a "diet" right now. The reason? Stressful events cause you to release cortisol, the "high anxiety hormone," and that triggers industrial-strength cravings for high-calorie munchies. The only way to fight it is to block the stress. See, way back in prehistoric times, this "whew, let's eat" reaction was a brilliant refueling strategy. Today, in a world awash in stress and easy-to-grab, high-calorie saturated-fat-, sugar- and salt-laden food, it's a recipe for trouble of all types. Not only will your waistline suffer, but uncontrolled stress and its consequences put you at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, infections, and cancer, not to mention divorce and depression.
But by using these strategies, you can keep a down economy from padding your torso -- and damaging your health:

Unwind every day. Don't let high anxiety become the norm in your life. Even if you think you're handling the doom-and-gloom with aplomb, your mind and body need a break. And we mean a daily break. Our favorite stress-busters? Laughter and meditation. Record your favorite late-night hosts; rent funny movies; get a joke book; or log on to your favorite funny Web site instead of reading the financial pages. To meditate, sit in a quiet room (not the kitchen!), focus on your breathing, and repeat a simple word or sound over and over again. Try to relax your muscles every time you exhale, too. This practice clears and calms your mind and can short-circuit emotional snacking.
Got a minute? Take a walk. Don't have a minute? Take a walk anyway. Exercise is one of the first things most of us skip when we're under stress, but it's the thing we need most. It reduces tension, energizes body and mind, stretches muscles, and gives you a little burst of feel-good endorphins. Dedicate 10 minutes of your lunchtime and half of any other scheduled breaks in your day to the art of the power stroll. If that's not possible, walk before or after work. For best results, pump your arms and move at a brisk pace.
Tote your own lunch and snacks. Back in the thrifty 1950s and 1960s, most of us brown-bagged it to school and to the office -- a tradition that can save you hundreds of calories a day and hundreds of dollars per year. Whether it's veggie-lasagna leftovers; some turkey-and-tomato on whole wheat; fresh fruit; crunchy vegetables (or even canned; they're healthy and inexpensive); or a handful of nuts -- it all tastes better when it comes from your own kitchen. Too busy to pack? Honestly, you're not; it really takes only a minute! But if you insist, here's what we recommend: Stock a corner of the office fridge with oranges or cut apples laced with lemon juice (or get a cheap apple corer for the office so you can have mess-free slices any time), or fill it with healthy frozen meals. And stash low-sodium bean soups in your desk; heat and eat. You're saving your wallet and your waistline.

Stop before you snack. We munch a handful of nuts on the drive home, either in little 100-calorie packs, or we eat 12 walnut halves, 12 almonds, or 20 peanuts. Even better, if you're not feeling physical hunger -- the kind that makes your tummy grumble and your blood sugar fall -- ask yourself, "Why do I want to eat?" and see what floats to the surface of your mind. You may need to talk with a friend, work out a new household budget, or simply walk off another wave of stress. Get rid of what's really messing with you and your waist will end up smaller than it started. Your body wants to be healthy and the right size; give it a chance (and some respect) and it will give it right back to you.

Pictures SlideShow : 8 Foods That Fight Pain

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Can you find pain relief on a plate? What you eat can help -- or hurt. Here are eight soothing foods to include in your chronic-pain-management strategy.

Are you eating right?

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 13:01:00 +0000

Teenage is the time one requires more nutrition as the body is subjected to a lot of changes. But are teens aware of this?

Size zero, fad diets and food supplements are some of the terms frequented by most teens today. Teenage is the time one requires more nutrition as the body is subjected to a lot of changes. But are teens aware of this? Snacking on junk, skipping meals and ignoring exercise will not only let you lose your shape, but your health as well.
Nutritionist Ashwini Sukumar, engages in a conversation with Vaishnavi Venkataraman, educating teens on tips to cut down those extra pounds with no crash diets.
Why is a diet important?
Teenage is a period when most of them would want to experiment. Be it clothes or food, teens prefer innovative stuff rather than the traditional ones. Adding to this, a nutritious diet is most essential during teenage.
Can diet have an impact on students’ performance?
Of course yes! Diet plays a vital role in any students’ academics. Children who do not skip their morning breakfast are proved to perform better than those who miss breakfast. Also, a diet that lacks micronutrients will tend to have an impact on the immune system, leading to less immunity.
Youngsters are too focused on losing weight. How healthy is this?
Size zero and staying thin are all mere results of media and peer pressure. There is a lot of misconception as far as diet and fitness are concerned. Teens take the wrong route to cut down their extra flab. Fad diets, weight loss supplements and other such dangerous tricks will only add on to unwanted health issues. These factors also become culprits for abnormal hormonal changes, especially among girls. The best way to stay fit is by exercising on a regular basis. But, unfortunately most of them fail to realize this!
What is the dietary requirement for teens?
Typically teenage is a very crucial period. This is when the body needs more nutrients. An ideal day for any teen should start off with a glass of water in the morning. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and must contain all the vitamins. Fruits and milk are vital. Lunch could be Roti, rice, dhal and salads. The idea that rice must be completely knocked off the plate to stay in shape is a myth. Eating the right quantity can never does harm. Dinner could be Roti and vegetables. Preferably ending the day with a glass of warm milk is the best bet.
Junk food is of course tasty and all of us would love to binge on it. What’s the limit?
Restaurant eating habit starts off an early age. However, this it’s the peak during teenage. The rich pastas and pizzas, steaming hot samosas and chats are the top favourites for any college student. But yes, there is a limit to this too! Junk food is advisable only once a week, that too in a restricted quantity. The best option is to replace junk with a healthy bowl of fruit salad, nuts or a good milk shake.
We have heard of potato diets, liquid diets and many such – Do they work? What are the downsides?
All of the above mentioned food items fall under the category of fad diet. Most of us are under the impression that a diet containing solely fruits or vegetables is the best way to shell out those extra calories. But how long! Our body needs a specific amount of nutrition to generate energy for our daily chores and therefore the metabolism oscillates and switches back to the previous composition. These diets only drink up the water in the body. The fat percentage stays the same. However, if you’re looking at cleansing or detoxifying your system, then you can resort to such diets once a month.
Going to the gym may not be possible during exam time, is there an alternative to make up for it?
The most important aspect of staying fit is exercising. Pricy gyms and fitness centers might suit office goers and others who lead a sedentary lifestyle. If you are a student, then try and make your exercise more fun. Join a class you like. Dance, swimming and aerobics are interesting and lets you stay fit as well. However, if you are obese, you do need more cardio exercise.
What are your top five tricks for a perfect body?
Fall within the ideal body weight.
Ensure you do not have a fat percentage that exceeds 20 – 25 % for women and 12-15 % for men
Wear clothes that suit your skeletal frame work so that you look slim
Indulge at least in one hour of physical activity everyday
Eat a healthy diet. Never starve
What are the nutrients and food groups that are important for teenagers?
Proteins and vitamins are a primary requirement for teenage girls and boys. Carbohydrate intake depends a lot on your daily activities. If your job demands you be on the run the whole day, more carbohydrates will generate the required energy. About 500-600 ml of milk and milk products is a must for calcium requirements.
What is the permitted amount of calorie intake for teens?
Teenage girls can take up to 2,200 calories per day, while boys can go up to 2700. However, the calorie can vary as it largely depends on the individual’s daily schedule, exercise, diet and the body metabolism.

Pictures SlideShow : Top 10 Foods for Lowering Cholesterol

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:47:00 +0000

Click Here To View SlideShow

Top 5 Health Resolutions Men must Make

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Remember how you resolved to make healthy habits a permanent part of your life on December 31 last year?
It all went really well for the first week or so. You were a regular in the gym, desserts had simply vanished from your everyday meals, and you used to go to sleep and get up at appropriate times. But then, one fine day, your friend asked you to come over. And as soon as he popped open a beer can, you resolution went down the drain. Let us not kid ourselves. New Year resolutions are always easy to make but hard to stick to, mostly, because either they are way too unrealistic and people lack the required will.
If you want to live a healthy life, there’s no need to wait for one long year to make a resolution. It’s never too late to start, provided you do make a start. Just as you didn’t develop you bad habits overnight, you won’t be able to kick them out on the New Year’s Day.
Here are top 5 very manageable health resolutions all men must take:

Less Stressing Out

Most people just dismiss stress as everyday routine affair. The fact is that stress can be a killer. Chronic stress can be a chief cause of hypertension, a weakened immune system and even a reduced lifespan. As we have always been saying in our articles in the past, do your best to cut down on the stress levels. You can enrol for a yoga class. You can also try medication and other alternative relaxation therapies. Speak to your physician to know more about such therapies.

Watching What You Eat

It’s really, really important that you eat good, clean and healthy food and thrive on a diet which contains all essential nutrients. The lessons here are same old ones from your school text books:
1.       Don’t eat too much oily, spicy and fried stuff.
2.      Cut down on carbs.
3.      Incorporate more proteins in your diet.
4.      Fruits and green leafy vegetables should be the star items on your menu.
5.      Go for whole-grain foods instead of ‘maida’ items.
6.      Eat in clean, hygienic surroundings.
7.      Keep a log of what you eat for a week. Then consult a dietician and get a diet chart prepared as per your BMI.
8.     Consume alcohol responsibly.
9.      Do not indulge in binge eating.

Walking

This one shouldn’t be that difficult. Just take a small break from whatever you are doing and go for a brief stroll. You can go for several such brief strolls every day. The best time to go for a walk is morning. Now if you’re not an early riser, do not make than an excuse for not going for walks. You can take several smalls breaks during your working hours to move your feet. Walking decreases hypertension, brings down bad cholesterol levels and is helpful in losing weight. If you don’t get time during the day, just go for a relaxed stroll after dinner. Now you have no excuse left for not going on a walk.

Doing At Least Some Bit of Workout

We understand all your time constraints and even all other types of hiccups but you must try and do at least some amount of workout on a daily basis. If you can hit the gym, nothing like it. However, if your office eats up all your time then you can at least do some basic exercises in your home. Push-ups can be one such great exercise. You don’t really need any costly equipment for doing push-ups and they are really good for your chest, shoulders, triceps, abs, and legs. What’s more, you can get done with a dozen of them in less than a minute! Apart from this, running, squats, stretching, jumping, crunches, dancing, etc. can be easily done at your home, or even at the office.

Playing a Sport

We know how some of us make faces when it comes to doing regular workout and exercise. How about adding some fun to it then? Sports are, in a way, fun exercises. They keep you fit and they keep you motivated. Basketball, tennis, cricket, football, badminton, hockey, or even frisbee are some good options. Playing sports will also boost your spirit of competitiveness which helps you take bigger strides in other arenas of life. The idea is you strike the right kind of balance between fitness, fun, and sportsmanship. Play a sport and be a sport yourself.

Cut Stroke Risk in Half with These 2 Fruits

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:50:00 +0000

You know how you're always told to fill your plate with colorful fruits and vegetables? Count white as a color. It could cut your risk of stroke in half.
When you think "white," think under the skin (e.g., apples and pears). Bananas, too. Also: cauliflower, onions, garlic, and cucumbers. In an impressive new stroke study, apples and pears were all-stars because they accounted for more than half of the white produce people ate, and the white stuff is what slashed stroke risk.

While eating lots of fruit and vegetables has long been linked to fewer strokes, this is the first effort to pinpoint which produce gets the credit. (Cut out this stroke-prevention list and stick it on your fridge.)

An Apple a Day Keeps the Doc Away
Keep that old rhyme in your head! The people in this big, long study (10 years, 20,000 men and women) cut their stroke risk 9% for every 25 grams of white produce they ate. Here's how apples size up (approximately) to some other white produce:

Medium apple: 180 grams
Medium apple: 180 grams
Banana: 115 grams (Bananas also do your brain good in other ways.)
1 cup of raw cauliflower: 100 grams
10 slices of cucumber: 70 grams

You can see why grabbing an apple (or pear) is hard to beat, brain-wise. And yes, eat the skin. It, too, has fistfuls of fiber and plant antioxidants.
Surprisingly, the three big, brightly colored groups (green, orange/yellow, and red/purple) of fruits and veggies didn't affect stroke rates at all, though their colorful pigments protect you from many other diseases, including breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Why is white produce so protective of your brain? That's not clear yet. No need to wait for scientists to figure out the reasons, though. With the exception of rock-hard pears and apples, white fruit can only do your body good.

Do Bananas Do a Brain Good?

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Grab a banana and say bye-bye to Parkinson's disease? Researchers say it could be so.
Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 -- and very early research suggests that high levels of B6 may protect against Parkinson's. Still, the news is not something to go bananas over just yet. The benefit applied only to smokers in the most recent study. But bananas and B6 do your body good in many other ways.

Vitamin B6 -- along with folate and B12 -- helps reduce levels of homocysteine, an amino acid. That's good for your ticker, because too much homocysteine in the blood appears to up heart disease risk.

Homocysteine also appears to be toxic to nerve cells, and elevated levels have been linked to Parkinson's disease, a progressive neurological disorder that causes muscles to become rigid and shake uncontrollably.
Could B vitamins be the answer? Among nearly 5,000 people studied recently, smokers whose B6 intake was highest were 50 percent less likely to develop the brain disorder over a nearly 10-year period, compared to smokers who consumed the least amount of the vitamin. And although all three members of the nutrient trio help lower homocysteine, only B6 intake -- not folate or B12 -- translated into reduced rates of Parkinson's, suggesting the B vitamin may lower disease risk by some mechanism unrelated to the lowering of homocysteine.
What's smoking got to do with it? Oddly enough, nicotine may actually protect nerve cells in some way, and B6 may help out in that process.
Of course, that's no reason to light up. But it might be a good reason to peel a banana.

Make Stroke Prevention a Top Priority

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:47:00 +0000

Riddle: What could your credit card airline miles and your hard-earned vacation days possibly have in common with stopping a stroke? Answer: A strict "use it or lose it" policy applies to all three. Getting your brain cells into gear now can prevent a brain attack later.
Strokes are so scary, most of us don't even want to think about them -- one big survey found you're three times more likely to worry about burglaries than this threat to your most important organ. (No, not that one. We mean your brain.) But a boatload of do-it-now recent research proves that knowledge = brain-saving power. Here's the stroke news YOU need to know:

Little choices help you sidestep big brain trouble. Turns out that plenty of "no big deal" decisions are a big deal -- like moving your hand 2 inches to the left when picking out canned beans in the supermarket, so you grab the type not soaked in salt. Or ordering the broiled trout instead of the fried. Or hopping on your exercise bike instead of the sofa when you're watching The Biggest Loser. Or saying, "Great!" when your kid/partner/best friend says, "Lets go see the latest Harry Potter movie . . . again!" (Close ties are healthy.)
Got any of these risks? Reverse them. No strokes on your family tree? Terrific, but you're not home free. Genes seem to play a smaller role in stroke than in heart attack. Focus instead on these big risks -- which are reversible: high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking (including secondhand smoke), off-beat heart rhythms, clogged arteries, even advancing age.
Get gold-standard brain care. It's out there. Clot-busting drugs save brain cells after an ischemic stroke (the most common type) if you get them within a few hours of a stroke's start. So if you spot early signs of a stroke (cut out our easy-to-remember "FAST" list below), get to a hospital that has a certified stroke center at siren speed. (Put the nearest hospital in your cell phone to show the EMT team.) Calling an ambulance and saying "Stroke!" can double or even quadruple the chances of getting to a stroke-certified hospital in time for clot busters to work their magic. Late arrival is a key reason few people -- just 1 in 25 -- who need them get these brain-saving drugs.

Convinced? Take these four steps:

Think F-A-S-T. If you even vaguely suspect someone (you?) is having a stroke, act F-A-S-T. It's short for:
- Face. Ask the person to smile (if it's you, look in a mirror). If one side droops, it could be a stroke.
- Arms. Ask the person to raise them. If one arm drifts downward, it could be a stroke.
- Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. If the speech is garbled or strange, it could be a stroke.
- Time. See signs? Call 911 right away.
Pinpoint the location of the best local stroke care. Today. As soon as you finish this column, go to www.strokecenter.org or www.stroke.org to find the nearest hospital with a certified stroke center. Getting to it increases your survival chances by 20%. Ambulances will usually go to a stroke center, but request it anyway when you call 911.
Exercise slightly harder. Your brain likes it. Bumping up the intensity just a little can cut by 40% your odds of a "silent" stroke -- a whispered, brief brain attack that boosts your risk for the real thing fivefold. Silent strokes are super common: About 11% of people ages 55 to 65 and half of people over 80 have them. Signs include one side of your body feeling numb or weak for a few moments; a vision fade-out; or a few seconds when you can't understand what others are saying or can't make yourself understood. Tell your doc what you think happened; it could be a warning.
Feed your brain smart foods. Just swapping olive oil for butter or creamy dressings could cut your stroke odds 41%. Choosing broiled or poached fish instead of fried fin food three times a week can lower them 30%. These two simple antistroke steps lower your blood pressure and lousy LDL cholesterol, cool inflammation, and discourage blood clots. Then, cut back on salt, which is practically fuel injected into fast food, restaurant fare, and many packaged foods. Eating lots of it increases your risk of the most common form of strokes.

Cut out this list and stick it on your fridge.

Pictures SlideShow: Lung Cancer - Causes, Symptoms, Types and Treatment

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:29:00 +0000

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Drugs That Control Genes May Treat Lung Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 14:40:00 +0000

Researchers Report Some Success Against Advanced Lung Cancer With Epigenetic Drugs

A new approach to treating cancer appears to help certain patients with advanced lung cancer, and researchers say they think they may have a way of spotting those who will benefit.
The small study is generating big excitement in the world of cancer treatment because it demonstrates that so-called epigenetic drugs may work when traditional chemotherapy has failed.
Epigenetic drugs work by controlling gene expression -- the way information from genes is used to create products such as proteins.
The study is published in Cancer Discovery.
"This is a ... groundbreaking study, showing that by modifying the epigenetics of a cancer cell we can get real responses in lung cancer," said Jeffrey A. Engleman, MD, PhD, director of thoracic oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, in a news briefing. "And getting real responses in lung cancer is actually quite difficult, so we take special notice of therapies that can do this." He was not involved in the research.

New Approach to Treating Cancer

All 45 patients recruited for the study had non-small-cell lung cancer, the leading cancer killer in the U.S.
All had tumors that had spread beyond their lungs despite treatment with an average of three other therapies.
"These are patients with very advanced disease" who have little chance of survival, says study researcher Charles Rudin, MD, PhD. He is professor of oncology and associate director for clinical research at Johns Hopkins University Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore.
Rudin says that he has consulted for Syndax Pharmaceuticals, the company that makes one of the drugs tested in the study.
Most patients with cancer this advanced are only expected to survive for about four months, the researchers note.
After treatment with a combination of the medications Vidaza, which is FDA approved to treat certain rare blood disorders, and the experimental pill entinostat, however, the average survival for the entire group was 6.4 months.
Doctors who wrote an editorial on the study note that this result was just shy of the same average survival (6.7 months) seen in patients treated with Tarceva, the only medication that's approved to treat patients with non-small-cell lung cancer that has spread to other organs.
The figure from the new study, however, included 11 patients who dropped out of the study before finishing a single cycle of treatment.
Among patients who finished at least one full treatment cycle, the average survival was even higher, about 8.6 months.
What's more, four of 19 patients who got chemotherapy after the experimental drug combo had dramatic responses to those treatments, "raising the hypothesis that maybe the epigenetic therapy is in some way priming the tumor for response to chemotherapy," Rudin says.
In total, seven patients who took part in the trial are still alive; two have survived for more than four years.
Two patients in the study had remarkable results.
In one patient, the cancer completely disappeared for 14 months, though she later developed a different kind of lung cancer that proved fatal.
A second patient saw tumors that had spread to his liver vanish and the primary tumor in his lung shrink.
Researchers described the drugs as well tolerated with few side effects for patients. The most commonly reported side effect was fatigue.
Despite their promising results, researchers say there's still a lot more to be learned before the epigenetic therapy becomes a mainstream treatment.
"This trial is small," Rudin says, "and these results certainly need to be confirmed in a larger study population."
Researchers say larger studies testing the drug combo are already underway.
"This is not yet a study that would in any way impact standard of care for this disease. But I think it opens up a new avenue that may be of real benefit to these patients," Rudin says.

Understanding Epigenetics

The drugs are believed to work by blocking a process that stops the activity of genes that naturally block tumor growth. In some cancers, these genes are switched off, taking out one of the body's natural defenses.
In contrast to drugs that target a specific gene or a mutation in a gene when it shows up in cancers, epigenetic therapies aim to control gene expression.
To help explain how it works, researcher Stephen A. Baylin, MD, professor and deputy director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University, likens genes to the hard drive on a computer.
"But the hard drive needs a software package to tell it how to function and epigenetics is essentially that software package," Baylin says. Baylin says he has no financial interest in the drugs tested in the study, but that he has helped develop a blood test used in the research.
"In every patient's cancer, of every type, hundreds of genes can also be affected by abnormalities in the software package, or epigenetic abnormalities, and that's what we are theoretically trying to target," he says.

Who Will Benefit?

One key question is why some people in the study had dramatic responses to the medications when others did not.
To answer that, researchers gave 26 patients in the study blood tests to check the function of four genes that were shown in an earlier study to affect how aggressively lung cancers might spread.
If at least two of the four genes were switched off, lung cancers are more likely to recur and spread.
And indeed, in 10 patients who had at least two silenced genes, using the epigenetic drug therapy to turn those genes back on increased survival significantly compared to 16 patients whose genes weren't switched off in the first place.
"The investigators have done a great job in trying to identify specific biomarkers," Engleman says. "We need to know which patients will respond to these therapies."

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Pictures SlideShow : 10 Mistakes New Parents Make

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:52:00 +0000

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Fast Baby Weight Gain Predicts Child Obesity

noreply@blogger.com (Hasan Ali) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:35:00 +0000

Study Suggests Double Risk of Childhood Obesity for Kids With Fastest Weight Gain by Age 2
Babies who gain weight most quickly are at highest risk of obesity later in childhood, a Harvard study finds.
Infants who gain the most weight at age 1-6 months are most likely to be obese at ages 5 and 10 years. The risk goes up with the child's starting weight-for-length percentile obtained from standard growth charts, find Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPH, and colleagues.
The researchers analyzed health records for 44,622 kids aged 1 month to 11 years from 1980 through 2008. They collected height and weight measurements made during the children's first 24 months, as well as their height and weight at ages 5 and 10.
Pediatricians usually monitor a child's growth by measuring weight and length and comparing it to CDC normal growth charts. The child's weight for length will typically fall within percentile lines: 5, 10, 25, 50, 75, 90, 95.
Especially in their youngest years, children typically pass one or more of these percentile lines. That is, they may go from being in the 75th percentile of weight for length in one six-month period to being in the 90th percentile in the next, and in the 95th percentile in the six-month period after that.
But, "upward crossing of major weight-for-length percentiles in infancy, especially in the first six months of life, is associated with high rates of obesity at ages 5 and 10 years," Taveras and colleagues report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Jumping upward across two or more of these percentile lines in six-month periods during the first two years is what puts kids at risk -- even very young children, Taveras and colleagues find.
Kids who passed two or more weight/height percentile lines by age 24 months had double the risk of being obese at age 5, and a 75% higher risk of being obese at age 10.
True, 43% of kids cross two or more percentile lines by age 6 months. Not all of them become obese.
But even kids who started out at lower weights were at risk of obesity. For example, among 6-month-olds who started out at the 25th percentile and then passed two or more percentile lines in the next six months, 7.4% were obese at age 5.
Taveras and colleagues note that percentile changes in weight for height are easy for a pediatrician to measure.
What is harder is to know what, if anything, should be done about it.
"It remains to be seen whether interventions based on such early identification result in improvements in child health," Taveras and colleagues note.