I received this artcile from the Personal Liberty Digest written by Bob Livingston. The article is about Omega 6 and it nutritional advantages and how it is found in natural foods. It is interesting that the American Heart Association is the advocate behind the study in the article. It is nice to see that they are finally catching up to what many people already know: naturals food are good for you. But better late than never.
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By Personal Liberty News Desk • Jan 30th, 2009 • Category: Health, Personal Liberty News
A new study highlights the benefits of natural foods, while another finds link between processed meat and serious health risks.
Omega-6 fatty acids - which can be found in nuts, seeds, and vegetable oils - have a beneficial impact on the heart and should be a part of a healthy diet, according to a recent advisory from the American Heart Association.
According to the association, numerous studies have indicated that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fatty acids, of which omega-6 is one type, lowers the risk of heart disease by 24 percent.
That is because "[w]hen saturated fat in the diet is replaced by omega-6, the blood cholesterol levels go down," explains Dr. William Harris, director of the Metabolism and Nutrition Research Center at the University of South Dakota.
This seems to underscore the value of eating natural foods - such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats - as opposed to processed products. Reuters news agency has reported on a new study by researchers at Harvard which links the consumption of processed meats such as hot dogs to a greater risk of leukemia in children.
The human body does not have the capacity to produce omega-6 and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, but they play a crucial role in heart and brain function and in normal growth and development, concludes the AHA advisory.
George Pragovich
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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Pure Clean Skin: BioActive X3 Complex#links
Pure Clean Skin: BioActive X3 Complex#links
If you have any skin issues or would just like to have better looking skin, this is your site.
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If you have any skin issues or would just like to have better looking skin, this is your site.
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George Pragovich
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Serious Health Risks Associated With Prostate Cancer Treatment
This article speaks to androgen blockade or androgen deprivation as treatment for Prostate Cancer. The article appeared in the Personal Liberty Digest written by Bob Livingston. It shows a need for testosterone to maintain health. I hope you find it interesting and informative. Enjoy!
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By Bob Livingston • Jan 26th, 2009 • Category: Bob Livingston, Health, Personal Liberty Articles
Conventional medicine aggressively attacks prostate cancer with androgen blockade or androgen deprivation.
In humans (predominantly males), the major androgen is testosterone. Natural testosterone is an elixir of life. It rises in youth (predominately males) to about age 25, and then it begins to decline. Researchers claim that aging and deterioration of health occurs with declining testosterone.
Natural testosterone, not to be confused with synthetic steroid drugs, “has been scientifically shown to enhance sexuality, vitality, cardiovascular health and general health.” (From the book, Maximize Your Vitality and Potency for Men Over 40 by Jonathan Wright, M.D. and Lane Lenard, Ph.D.)
Conventional medicine, sometimes referred to as “orthodox medicine,” hatched this “androgen blockade” as a procedure in cancer treatment usually followed by a prostate operation leaving most men impotent, along with other serious complications. Well, you know the story. It has a monotonously fatal ring to it.
Now researchers say that cardiovascular mortality, in some cases, follows androgen deprivation (blockade) and that it is associated with a greater risk of coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and diabetes.
Prostate doctors are loose with their prostate cancer patients, as well as all prostate patients with high prostate specific antigen (PSA) measurements.
Before any man agrees to androgen blockade or a prostate operation, they should read Jonathan Wright’s book, Maximize Your Vitality and Potency for Men Over 40.
Testosterone is nature’s answer for vitality, health and longevity.
I personally use 5 percent testosterone by prescription from a compounding pharmacy. Women need about one-tenth as much testosterone as men, but they do need it.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
By Bob Livingston • Jan 26th, 2009 • Category: Bob Livingston, Health, Personal Liberty Articles
Conventional medicine aggressively attacks prostate cancer with androgen blockade or androgen deprivation.
In humans (predominantly males), the major androgen is testosterone. Natural testosterone is an elixir of life. It rises in youth (predominately males) to about age 25, and then it begins to decline. Researchers claim that aging and deterioration of health occurs with declining testosterone.
Natural testosterone, not to be confused with synthetic steroid drugs, “has been scientifically shown to enhance sexuality, vitality, cardiovascular health and general health.” (From the book, Maximize Your Vitality and Potency for Men Over 40 by Jonathan Wright, M.D. and Lane Lenard, Ph.D.)
Conventional medicine, sometimes referred to as “orthodox medicine,” hatched this “androgen blockade” as a procedure in cancer treatment usually followed by a prostate operation leaving most men impotent, along with other serious complications. Well, you know the story. It has a monotonously fatal ring to it.
Now researchers say that cardiovascular mortality, in some cases, follows androgen deprivation (blockade) and that it is associated with a greater risk of coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction and diabetes.
Prostate doctors are loose with their prostate cancer patients, as well as all prostate patients with high prostate specific antigen (PSA) measurements.
Before any man agrees to androgen blockade or a prostate operation, they should read Jonathan Wright’s book, Maximize Your Vitality and Potency for Men Over 40.
Testosterone is nature’s answer for vitality, health and longevity.
I personally use 5 percent testosterone by prescription from a compounding pharmacy. Women need about one-tenth as much testosterone as men, but they do need it.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Exercisers Ache Less than Sedentary Folks Frequent Workouts Inhibit Pain, Study Says
Another great aricle from Daily Health News. It's about exercise and its affects on pain in seniors. After reading this, it should make every senior want to start exercising!
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Exercisers Ache Less than Sedentary Folks Frequent Workouts Inhibit Pain, Study Says
People have all kinds of excuses not to exercise, and one I have heard often is that it causes too many aches and pains, especially among older people. Not so, says a study from Stanford University, which found that older people who regularly exercise actually experience considerably less musculoskeletal pain.
THE STUDY DETAILS
Over a 14-year period, researchers tracked 866 people, 492 of whom were members of a runners association... and 374 nonmembers who served as control subjects.
All participants were also divided into either "Ever Runners" (565) or "Never Runners" (301). When the study began, participants were on average in their early to mid-sixties. Each year they filled out extensive questionnaires about how much they exercised, what type of exercise they were doing and their history of musculoskeletal injuries. After adjusting for age, body mass index, gender, health behaviors, history of arthritis and other conditions, the study team discovered that the people who continued to be most active had 25% less pain than their sedentary peers.
The amount of exercise performed by active runners' association members and "Ever Runners"
was considerable and showed a wide range -- from just under six hours a week to a hefty 35 hours per week.
I spoke with Bonnie Bruce, DrPH, who was the lead author of the study, to explore what can be generalized about exercise and pain. She said the study looked at the effects of various types of vigorous aerobic activity (rapid walking, swimming, biking, hiking, racquet sports and others) that produced a sweat and a heart rate above 120 -- and theorizes several possible explanations for why the most active exercisers experienced less pain. It might reflect endorphin release, increased resistance to musculoskeletal injury (by building resilience through strength training) or a psychologically-based increase in pain threshold. There are likely many other plausible associations that will be identified over time. But whatever the reason, the outcome is clear -- exercise is a winning proposition.
Dr. Bruce points out that even people with less physical functioning in their lower body can still perform a number of activities that involve upper body work, including swimming and using some of the specialized equipment at gyms today.
Every movement counts, says Dr. Bruce, so do all you can to move throughout the day. Note: If you've avoided exercise for fear of pain, be sure to have your doctor double check that there are no injuries before you start a regimen.
Bonnie Bruce, DrPH, senior research scientist, department of immunology and rheumatology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
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206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
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http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
Exercisers Ache Less than Sedentary Folks Frequent Workouts Inhibit Pain, Study Says
People have all kinds of excuses not to exercise, and one I have heard often is that it causes too many aches and pains, especially among older people. Not so, says a study from Stanford University, which found that older people who regularly exercise actually experience considerably less musculoskeletal pain.
THE STUDY DETAILS
Over a 14-year period, researchers tracked 866 people, 492 of whom were members of a runners association... and 374 nonmembers who served as control subjects.
All participants were also divided into either "Ever Runners" (565) or "Never Runners" (301). When the study began, participants were on average in their early to mid-sixties. Each year they filled out extensive questionnaires about how much they exercised, what type of exercise they were doing and their history of musculoskeletal injuries. After adjusting for age, body mass index, gender, health behaviors, history of arthritis and other conditions, the study team discovered that the people who continued to be most active had 25% less pain than their sedentary peers.
The amount of exercise performed by active runners' association members and "Ever Runners"
was considerable and showed a wide range -- from just under six hours a week to a hefty 35 hours per week.
I spoke with Bonnie Bruce, DrPH, who was the lead author of the study, to explore what can be generalized about exercise and pain. She said the study looked at the effects of various types of vigorous aerobic activity (rapid walking, swimming, biking, hiking, racquet sports and others) that produced a sweat and a heart rate above 120 -- and theorizes several possible explanations for why the most active exercisers experienced less pain. It might reflect endorphin release, increased resistance to musculoskeletal injury (by building resilience through strength training) or a psychologically-based increase in pain threshold. There are likely many other plausible associations that will be identified over time. But whatever the reason, the outcome is clear -- exercise is a winning proposition.
Dr. Bruce points out that even people with less physical functioning in their lower body can still perform a number of activities that involve upper body work, including swimming and using some of the specialized equipment at gyms today.
Every movement counts, says Dr. Bruce, so do all you can to move throughout the day. Note: If you've avoided exercise for fear of pain, be sure to have your doctor double check that there are no injuries before you start a regimen.
Bonnie Bruce, DrPH, senior research scientist, department of immunology and rheumatology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Health Lifestyle: The truth behind the label
Health Lifestyle: The truth behind the label
This is one of the better blogs I have come across. It covers many topics to lead a healthy lifestyle. I hope you like it as much as I do.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
This is one of the better blogs I have come across. It covers many topics to lead a healthy lifestyle. I hope you like it as much as I do.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Soy For You
This a great article about the dangers of soy and it's relationship to giving it to children in formula and its ability to prevent cancer. I found this article at www.bottomlinesecrets.com. I really suggest all you vegans and vegetarians to look for another source of protiein. This one is dangerous. You have been lied to.
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
The Dark Side of Soy
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCNWeston A. Price Foundation
Special from Bottom Line's Daily Health NewsOctober 24, 2005
A few years ago, if you had asked me what the best "health food" in the world was, I probably would have said "soy."
Now I'm not so sure.
For years, we've been hearing that soy is a good source of protein, lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk for heart disease. There was also talk of soy protein having a protective effect against cancer. The reputation of soy still seems solid with mainstream doctors and dietitians. Lately, however, there have been rumblings of dissent in the nutritional community -- and some of these rumblings are very loud. Have we been oversold on soy?
To find out, I spoke with Kaayla Daniel, PhD, CCN, nutritionist and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food (New Trends), who wrote three well-documented protests filed with the FDA regarding the proposed soy protein/cancer health claim. What I learned was disturbing.
MARKETING Versus SCIENCE
"Soy is not a health food, soy is not a panacea and soy has not even been proven safe," Dr. Daniel told me. "It's a triumph of marketing over real science." According to Dr. Daniel, the soy we are being sold in today's US market is a far cry from the soy eaten in Asian diets. "The type of food Asians eat is very different from what's appearing on the American table," she said. "While Asians do indeed eat small amounts of old-fashioned whole soy, they do not consume processed products made with soy protein isolate, texturized vegetable protein and soy oil. They rarely if ever consume soy shakes, energy bars, soy milk, soy burgers and other newly invented foods that use processed soy rather than 'the real deal'."
THE PROBLEMS WITH SOY
According to Dr. Daniel -- and to the growing number of soy detractors -- there are several other problems with soy...
First, it's not a particularly good source of protein. "Soy is very low in an essential amino acid called methionine, without which it can't be fully digested and utilized by the system," said Dr. Daniel. "It consistently scores low on almost all protein ratings except one, the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS), which was set up as almost an 'affirmative action' rating system to make soy look better than it is." (See Daily Health News, October 10, 2005, for protein rating systems and the poor performance of soy.)
Second, soy contains phytates. Phytates are compounds found in beans, grains and seeds that bind toxic metals such as cadmium (a good thing), but also bind with minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium, preventing their absorption (a bad thing). Phytates can cause iron deficiencies, leading to fatigue, lethargy, poor athletic performance and a weakened immune system. Iron deficiencies also can affect the thyroid, which in turn leads to weight gain.
Soy also contains protease inhibitors, compounds that inhibit important enzymes, such as trypsin, which are needed to digest protein. Protease inhibitors are the reason that soy protein, in all forms, is notoriously hard to digest and can badly stress the pancreas. "The commonly held notion that low levels of these protease inhibitors pose no threat to human health is simply untrue," said Dr. Daniel. Protease inhibitors have been linked to malnutrition and pancreatic disease. "While it's widely believed that cooking destroys them, it does not eliminate them completely."
Finally, there's the issue of phytoestrogens, which are plant estrogens found in soybeans. Phytoestrogens exert estrogenic effects directly and indirectly throughout the body. When eaten in sufficiently large quantities, "they can interfere with the production of thyroid hormones, disrupt menstrual cycles, contribute to infertility, even interfere with testosterone production in men, reducing their sex drive," Dr. Daniel told me. She concedes that soy sometimes reduces hot flashes but warns that the possible benefit is outweighed by proven risks to the thyroid, already a vulnerable gland for menopausal women, most often causing weight gain, fatigue and brain fog. Due to dangerous risks to ovarian hormone production, these phytoestrogen products derived from soy should not be used over the long run to treat PMS or symptoms of menopause.
SOY AND CANCER
As for the claim that soy prevents cancer, soy estrogens are listed as carcinogens in some chemistry textbooks. Dr. Daniel believes that compounds in soy may indeed have valid pharmaceutical uses in cancer treatment, but that's not the same as saying we should eat a lot of soy foods. According to Dr. Daniel, numerous studies actually show that soy can contribute to, cause and accelerate the growth of cancer. "Most alarmingly," she told me, "parents who feed their infants soy formula are unwittingly giving them the hormonal equivalent of three to five birth control pills a day, potentially interfering with brain and reproductive system development." The British Dietetic Association, Swiss Federal Health Service and other health authorities have warned parents and pediatricians against the use of soy formula, but in America, 25% of the bottle-fed market uses soy formula... and this number is growing.
Although most researchers are more moderate, believing that one or two portions of a good soy protein a day are probably fine, more and more nutritionists share Dr. Daniel's thinking. "There's no problem eating traditionally fermented products like miso in moderation, and even a little tofu once in a while," she told me, "but for people who want protein shakes, whey is a much better choice. The problem isn't the moderate consumption of soy -- it is the enthusiastic view of it as a perfect protein option for those looking to reduce their consumption of red meat and dairy products."
The answer? Moderation. Almonds anyone?
Source
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, nutritionist of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food, (New Trends). www.thewholesoystory.com.
www.BottomLineSecrets.com
Bottom Line Publications publishes the opinions of leading authorities in many fields. But the use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment, medical and other professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions.
Copyright © 2009 by Boardroom Inc.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
The Dark Side of Soy
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCNWeston A. Price Foundation
Special from Bottom Line's Daily Health NewsOctober 24, 2005
A few years ago, if you had asked me what the best "health food" in the world was, I probably would have said "soy."
Now I'm not so sure.
For years, we've been hearing that soy is a good source of protein, lowers cholesterol and reduces the risk for heart disease. There was also talk of soy protein having a protective effect against cancer. The reputation of soy still seems solid with mainstream doctors and dietitians. Lately, however, there have been rumblings of dissent in the nutritional community -- and some of these rumblings are very loud. Have we been oversold on soy?
To find out, I spoke with Kaayla Daniel, PhD, CCN, nutritionist and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food (New Trends), who wrote three well-documented protests filed with the FDA regarding the proposed soy protein/cancer health claim. What I learned was disturbing.
MARKETING Versus SCIENCE
"Soy is not a health food, soy is not a panacea and soy has not even been proven safe," Dr. Daniel told me. "It's a triumph of marketing over real science." According to Dr. Daniel, the soy we are being sold in today's US market is a far cry from the soy eaten in Asian diets. "The type of food Asians eat is very different from what's appearing on the American table," she said. "While Asians do indeed eat small amounts of old-fashioned whole soy, they do not consume processed products made with soy protein isolate, texturized vegetable protein and soy oil. They rarely if ever consume soy shakes, energy bars, soy milk, soy burgers and other newly invented foods that use processed soy rather than 'the real deal'."
THE PROBLEMS WITH SOY
According to Dr. Daniel -- and to the growing number of soy detractors -- there are several other problems with soy...
First, it's not a particularly good source of protein. "Soy is very low in an essential amino acid called methionine, without which it can't be fully digested and utilized by the system," said Dr. Daniel. "It consistently scores low on almost all protein ratings except one, the protein digestibility corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS), which was set up as almost an 'affirmative action' rating system to make soy look better than it is." (See Daily Health News, October 10, 2005, for protein rating systems and the poor performance of soy.)
Second, soy contains phytates. Phytates are compounds found in beans, grains and seeds that bind toxic metals such as cadmium (a good thing), but also bind with minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium, preventing their absorption (a bad thing). Phytates can cause iron deficiencies, leading to fatigue, lethargy, poor athletic performance and a weakened immune system. Iron deficiencies also can affect the thyroid, which in turn leads to weight gain.
Soy also contains protease inhibitors, compounds that inhibit important enzymes, such as trypsin, which are needed to digest protein. Protease inhibitors are the reason that soy protein, in all forms, is notoriously hard to digest and can badly stress the pancreas. "The commonly held notion that low levels of these protease inhibitors pose no threat to human health is simply untrue," said Dr. Daniel. Protease inhibitors have been linked to malnutrition and pancreatic disease. "While it's widely believed that cooking destroys them, it does not eliminate them completely."
Finally, there's the issue of phytoestrogens, which are plant estrogens found in soybeans. Phytoestrogens exert estrogenic effects directly and indirectly throughout the body. When eaten in sufficiently large quantities, "they can interfere with the production of thyroid hormones, disrupt menstrual cycles, contribute to infertility, even interfere with testosterone production in men, reducing their sex drive," Dr. Daniel told me. She concedes that soy sometimes reduces hot flashes but warns that the possible benefit is outweighed by proven risks to the thyroid, already a vulnerable gland for menopausal women, most often causing weight gain, fatigue and brain fog. Due to dangerous risks to ovarian hormone production, these phytoestrogen products derived from soy should not be used over the long run to treat PMS or symptoms of menopause.
SOY AND CANCER
As for the claim that soy prevents cancer, soy estrogens are listed as carcinogens in some chemistry textbooks. Dr. Daniel believes that compounds in soy may indeed have valid pharmaceutical uses in cancer treatment, but that's not the same as saying we should eat a lot of soy foods. According to Dr. Daniel, numerous studies actually show that soy can contribute to, cause and accelerate the growth of cancer. "Most alarmingly," she told me, "parents who feed their infants soy formula are unwittingly giving them the hormonal equivalent of three to five birth control pills a day, potentially interfering with brain and reproductive system development." The British Dietetic Association, Swiss Federal Health Service and other health authorities have warned parents and pediatricians against the use of soy formula, but in America, 25% of the bottle-fed market uses soy formula... and this number is growing.
Although most researchers are more moderate, believing that one or two portions of a good soy protein a day are probably fine, more and more nutritionists share Dr. Daniel's thinking. "There's no problem eating traditionally fermented products like miso in moderation, and even a little tofu once in a while," she told me, "but for people who want protein shakes, whey is a much better choice. The problem isn't the moderate consumption of soy -- it is the enthusiastic view of it as a perfect protein option for those looking to reduce their consumption of red meat and dairy products."
The answer? Moderation. Almonds anyone?
Source
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, nutritionist of the Weston A. Price Foundation, and author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food, (New Trends). www.thewholesoystory.com.
www.BottomLineSecrets.com
Bottom Line Publications publishes the opinions of leading authorities in many fields. But the use of these opinions is no substitute for legal, accounting, investment, medical and other professional services to suit your specific personal needs. Always consult a competent professional for answers to your specific questions.
Copyright © 2009 by Boardroom Inc.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Why cardio is a complete waste of your time
I received this email from a personal trainer who has a unique approach to cardio fitness. His name is Shin Ohtake. He is not the only person with this view, but he is unique when it comes to implementing this approach. Let me know what you think.
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
It's not that all cardio is bad. There is a right and a wrong way to do cardio. Long, moderate paced cardio is a waste of time if you're trying to shed those extra pounds or improve your athletic performance. It's like pushing your car to work instead of driving it. But why?
The right way to do cardio for fat-burning and better conditioning is to do high intensity interval cardio. My favorite type of HIIT cardio workouts include sprinting (running). You don't need any equipment (or even a track for that matter). To change it up, find a hill or maybe some stairs.
Here's a sample:
Do a 15 second sprint, followed by 45 seconds of rest. Repeat this
8 times.
If you want something even more challenging, try the "Tabata"
interval (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) for 8 rounds.
Remember, these are ALL OUT sprints. That means you sprint as fast as you can. 100% intensity.
If you don't have outdoor access (or if you're snowed in!) try intervals on the stationary bike. I always suggest the bike because it's easier to adjust the resistance and you're able to give it 100% effort. It's hard to sprint at your maximum speed on the treadmill, which is why I recommend the bike for indoor interval cardio.
One of the many benefits of doing interval cardio as opposed to longer, moderate cardio is it's positive effects on your metabolism. You'll boost your metabolic rate for a longer period of time. That means you'll improve your conditioning and burn more fat at the same time. How's that for efficient?
Sincerely,
Shin Ohtake
Author, MAX Workouts
www.MaxWorkouts.com
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
Receive a free training or consultative session for every individual you send to me that becomes my client!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
It's not that all cardio is bad. There is a right and a wrong way to do cardio. Long, moderate paced cardio is a waste of time if you're trying to shed those extra pounds or improve your athletic performance. It's like pushing your car to work instead of driving it. But why?
The right way to do cardio for fat-burning and better conditioning is to do high intensity interval cardio. My favorite type of HIIT cardio workouts include sprinting (running). You don't need any equipment (or even a track for that matter). To change it up, find a hill or maybe some stairs.
Here's a sample:
Do a 15 second sprint, followed by 45 seconds of rest. Repeat this
8 times.
If you want something even more challenging, try the "Tabata"
interval (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) for 8 rounds.
Remember, these are ALL OUT sprints. That means you sprint as fast as you can. 100% intensity.
If you don't have outdoor access (or if you're snowed in!) try intervals on the stationary bike. I always suggest the bike because it's easier to adjust the resistance and you're able to give it 100% effort. It's hard to sprint at your maximum speed on the treadmill, which is why I recommend the bike for indoor interval cardio.
One of the many benefits of doing interval cardio as opposed to longer, moderate cardio is it's positive effects on your metabolism. You'll boost your metabolic rate for a longer period of time. That means you'll improve your conditioning and burn more fat at the same time. How's that for efficient?
Sincerely,
Shin Ohtake
Author, MAX Workouts
www.MaxWorkouts.com
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Low-Carb battles in your brain
If you are someone who follows a low carb diet, you might find this article interesting. It explains how to keep yourself on the diet when temptation is near. This article comes from the blog
of Michael R. Eades MD.
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
I'm going to toss off a question about the paradoxical nature of low-carb diets. Here is the set up. Most people reading this post will have - at some point, at least - enjoyed the benefits of a low-carb diet. They will have had more energy, slept better, rid themselves of heartburn and GERD, stabilized blood sugar, reduced blood pressure, normalized lipids and lost weight. Many will have been able to rid themselves of one or even a handful of drugs. All will have felt much, much better than before starting the diet. And, if most are like me, will marvel on what a wonderfully filling and satisfying diet it is and will tell them selves that the low-carb diet is really the only diet worth following.
Okay, that’s the set up. Here is the question:
Why are low-carb diets so difficult to stick to for so many who have had the above experience?
When I am in full low-carb mode, genesis-ing that neo glucose like crazy, I feel like a million bucks. I’m not hungry, I don’t really obsess on food, and I have energy out the yang. So, why would I ever go off the diet? I can assure you that I do. And sometimes I go off in a bad way for longer than I should. I pick up a few pounds, finally get a grip on myself and plunge back into low-carbery. When I’m back sailing along, I wonder why I ever went off in the first place. So, why did I do it? Why do we all do it?
Here is what Don DeLillo writes in White Noise that is apropos to our question:
Who knows what I want to do? Who knows what anyone wants to do? How can you be sure about something like that? Isn’t it all a question of brain chemistry, signals going back and forth, electrical energy in the cortex? How do you know whether something is really what you want to do or just some kind of nerve impulse in the brain? Some minor little activity takes place somewhere in this unimportant place on one of the brain hemispheres and suddenly I want to go to Montana or I don’t want to go to Montana.
The above quote leads off Jonah Lehrer’s new book How We Decide, which I’ve started, but haven’t finished. I got the book because of an article of Lehrer’s I read in the Dallas paper when I was there a couple of weeks ago. So far, the book has met and exceeded all my expectations. And tomorrow night, I’m going to meet the author, so I’d like to get most of the book finished by then.
The article in the Dallas paper got me thinking about diets, low-carb diets in particular. And about how much easier it would be for all of us if a lot of things changed. Before I go into detail, read this excerpt from the article:
A recent experiment…sheds light on what happens inside the brain when people make shopping decisions. While economists have long assumed that consumers are rational agents and purchase goods based on calculations of utility, that assumption turns out to be false. In reality, every shopping decision is an emotional tug-of-war, as the pleasure of getting something new competes with the pain of spending money.
The experiment went like this: A few dozen lucky undergraduates were given a generous amount of cash and offered the chance to buy dozens of different objects, from a digital voice recorder to gourmet chocolates to the latest Harry Potter book. While the students were making their shopping decisions, the scientists were imaging the activity inside their head with a powerful brain scanner.
They discovered that when subjects were first exposed to the item, a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) was turned on. The NAcc is a crucial part of our dopamine reward pathway – it’s typically associated with things like sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll – and the intensity of its activation was a reflection of desire for the item. If the person already owned the complete Harry Potter collection, then the NAcc didn’t get too excited about the prospect of buying another copy. However, if he’d been craving a George Foreman grill, then the NAcc flooded the brain with dopamine whenever that item appeared.
But then came the price tag. When the subjects were exposed to the cost of the product, the insula was activated. The insula is associated with aversive feelings, and is triggered by things like nicotine withdrawal and pictures of people in pain. In general, we try to avoid anything that makes our insula excited. Apparently, this includes spending money.
By measuring the relative amount of activity in each brain region, the scientists could accurately predict the subjects’ shopping decisions. They knew which products people would buy before the people themselves did. If the insula’s negativity exceeded the positive feelings generated by the NAcc, then the subject almost always chose not to buy the item. However, if the NAcc was more active than the insula, the object proved irresistible. The sting of giving up cash couldn’t compete with the thrill of getting a George Foreman grill.
So far, nothing much new other than putting names to the parts of the brain - NAcc and insula - that constantly debate with one another over what we’re going to buy or do. We think we make decisions rationally, but we really don’t. We make them because our brain chemicals tell us what to do. As I mentioned in a previous post, we can control this to a little better extent than Mr. Lehrer indicates that we can.
But this constant debate goes on in our brains, with our spendthrift hedonistic NAcc wanting to buy, buy, buy while our tightfisted, frugal, money-hoarding insula trying to hold the line. That this debate occurs is not lost on retailers. They want to do whatever they can to encourage the NAcc and discourage the insula.
…retail stores already manipulate this cortical setup. Just look at the interior of a Costco. It’s no accident that the most covetous items are put in the most prominent places. A row of high-definition televisions surrounds the entrance. The fancy jewelry, Rolex watches and other luxury items are conspicuously placed along the corridors with the heaviest foot traffic. And then there are the free samples of food, liberally distributed throughout the store.
The goal of these discount warehouses is to constantly prime the pleasure centers of the brain, to keep us lusting after things we don’t need. Even though we probably won’t buy the Rolex, just looking at the fancy watch makes us more likely to buy something else, since the coveted item activates the NAcc.
But it’s not enough to just excite our reward centers: Retailers must also inhibit the insula. This brain area is responsible for making sure we don’t spend excessively, and when it’s repeatedly assured by retail stores that low prices are “guaranteed,” it stops worrying so much about the price tag. In fact, researchers have found that even when a store puts a promotional sticker next to the price tag – something like “Bargain Buy!” or “Hot Deal!” – but doesn’t actually reduce the price, sales of the item will still dramatically increase.
These retail tactics lull our brain into buying more things, since the insula is pacified. (Paying with a credit card seems to have a similar effect. Because the actual payment is postponed until the end of the month, the insula doesn’t fully process the pain of spending money. Of course, this leads, over time, to rampant credit card debt.)
This inner-brain debate we all have going on and the retailers response to it is a kind of model of what happens to us when we’re cruising along on our low-carb diets. Before we get into the specifics however, let’s look at how this model works with another form of pleasurable and addictive behavior.
Smoking involves these same parts of the brain, the NAcc and the insula. Back in the 1930s, 40s and 50s a whole lot of people smoked. In fact, it was all the rage. As my mother never tires of telling me whenever I point out the negative health consequences of her own past smoking, back then you were regarded as an outcast if you didn’t smoke. Although people may have wondered deep in their heart of hearts if it were really a good thing, their NAccs got plenty of encouragement everywhere. All the movies made during the time were filled with actors smoking, characters on television series smoked (Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke, for instance), talk-show hosts smoked (Johnny Carson always had a cigarette going), cigarette ads were everywhere. And if you thought that maybe tobacco might not be good for you, there were even ads showing doctors who smoked and who recommended smoking. Even cartoon characters smoked. People smoked on planes, in restaurants, at work, at meetings - everywhere. You couldn’t get away from it. It was the norm. Your NAcc got a boost everywhere you looked and your insula was inhibited.
Compare then with now. In most places you can’t smoke in restaurants, in California you can’t even smoke in bars, you can’t smoke in planes, you can’t smoke much of anywhere. You don’t see a lot in movies, and when people do smoke, it really stands out, and looks pretty revolting. If you do try to smoke publicly, you will be glowered at by someone. You are bombarded with ads showing the negative effects of smoking. Whenever you hear someone died of lung cancer, you always ask if he/she was a smoker. And if so, you may have less sympathy. Whereas in the 30s, 40s and 50s the entire system was set up to encourage and enable smokers, it is the opposite now. As a consequence, way, way fewer people smoke. Why? Because even though the NAcc might still want to smoke, the insula has so much encouragement from the world around, that it easily overcomes whatever desire the NAcc might have.
The insula can be pretty strong, too. Alcoholism is a severe type of addiction and dependency, but can be held at bay by Alcoholics Anonymous. How? By attending meetings and getting the insula all fired up to cease and desist when alcohol is around. I have a friend who is an addictive personality type and who is a bad alcoholic with a bad, bad history of alcoholic self destruction. He’s been sober now for over ten years, but right before attending ANY event where alcohol will be available (including dinner at our house), he finds an AA meeting to get his insula topped off.
When we think about low-carb dieting in these terms, it is clear that we low-carbers are operating in a high-carb world. We are the low-carb equivalent of the non-smoker in the 1950s. We are considered unusual.
Everywhere we look we are bombarded with carbohydrate temptations. No place is safe. Just like the cigarette ads that were ubiquitous in days gone by, so now are the carbohydrate ads. You can’t pick up a magazine, turn on the TV or even look in a newspaper without your eye falling on an advertisement for carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend them; dietitians recommend them; doctors recommend them; even the government recommends them.
If you tell three people you’re on a low-carb diet, I can almost guarantee that at least one of them will tell you that you are going to croak your kidneys or dissolve your bones. Probably another is going to tell you that although you may lose some weight, you will do so at the risk of clogging your arteries. Your insula is gathering info. Everything you hear like this beats down your insula just a little more, making it more prone to look the other way when your NAcc wants to take control.
Looking at this situation, it’s remarkable that anyone is able to stay on a low-carb diet for any length of time at all. In the ongoing debate in our heads between the NAcc and the insula, the insula doesn’t stand a chance. Society is aligned today to prod the NAcc with carbs just like it did with cigarettes a couple of generations ago, even though it was/is disastrous for health. And as it was then, society today is aligned to discourage the insula. Just like the retailers with merchandising, societal forces are pimping our NAccs and distracting our insulas.
When you’re doing well on the low-carb diet, your NAcc is happy, and if you hang in there and keep immersing yourself in low-carb info (this blog, other low-carb blogs, low-carb forums, low-carb books, etc.), your insula stays happy. But let yourself get away from this insular world, and what happens?
You go out for a nice dinner and hear comes the bread basket, often filled with warm, aromatic bread. All your dinner companions are scarfing it down. Hey, what’s a little piece of bread going to do to you, for God’s sake? (If you happen to find yourself in the unfortunate position of having not had a booming weight-loss week, you’re really in trouble.) Then the dessert tray comes after dinner, and if you’ve had a little bit to drink, you may be a goner. Alcohol is the gateway drug for carbs - as a general rule, the more you drink, the more carbs you eat. Hey, you only live once. Go for it. You head home after consuming about three day’s worth of carbohydrates. You resolve to do better the next day, but you’ve derailed the smooth running of all the metabolic processes that your low-carb diet had set in motion, and the next day it will be a little harder to get back on track.
Your NAcc has been beguiled by the carbs while your insula has been overcome (overtly) by your dinner companions and (covertly) by the high-carb society in which we all live, where you’ll hear things such as: Hey, it’s okay. Everyone knows that carbs are good for you. We’re supposed to consume at least 150 g per day for good health. I saw a doctor on Oprah who said we don’t get ENOUGH carbs.
And you wonder why it’s tough to stay on a low-carb diet? And you wonder why you have cravings? It’s pretty obvious when you think about it in these terms.
What can we do? Aside from the Glasser techniques that I wrote about before that serve mainly to get us away from the temptation, the best thing to do is pump up our own insulas. Just like my friend who goes to AA before any exposure to alcohol to get his inhibitory insula ready to dominate his NAcc, you’ve got to prep yourself. Go through all the reasons you’re on a low-carb diet. Think about how good you’re feeling. Think about all the good things you have going with your low-carb diet. Get yourself psyched up just as if your were going out to play in the Super Bowl. It sounds corny, but that’s what AA does, and it’s very effective. I call this getting into diet mode or putting on your diet face. We’ve all got to do this until the world changes.
Think how nice it will be when the world comes to its senses about diet and realizes the superiority of the low-carb diet for health and weight. We will be bombarded with ads for different cuts of meat. Instead of the smell of fresh baked bread in stores, we’ll get the aroma of sizzling bacon. We’ll be presented with dozens of options for foods prepared with coconut oil and butter. We will look at an overweight person eating a big carb meal with the same disgust we now feel toward someone who is coughing his/her lungs out while smoking. At restaurants we will have to ask for starch, and it may cost extra. Dessert trays will be filled with different varieties of berries and other low-carb fruits. If there is a tart or something similar, we’ll be assured that it comes with a crushed-almond crust and no added sugar. Should such a world ever exist, our NAccs will constantly be stimulated with the foods that are actually good for us and that are, unlike carbohydrates, satiating, and our insulas won’t really have to be inhibited, so we will be in constant NAcc drive to eat properly. Won’t it be grand?
When that time comes (and it probably will - who would have thought in the 40s that a time would come when no one smoked), I’ll pity the poor folks trying to sell low-fat diet books.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
of Michael R. Eades MD.
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist!
32 years Fitness Training experience!
It doesn't matter where you live, I can help you achieve your goals.
Call for free consultation!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
I'm going to toss off a question about the paradoxical nature of low-carb diets. Here is the set up. Most people reading this post will have - at some point, at least - enjoyed the benefits of a low-carb diet. They will have had more energy, slept better, rid themselves of heartburn and GERD, stabilized blood sugar, reduced blood pressure, normalized lipids and lost weight. Many will have been able to rid themselves of one or even a handful of drugs. All will have felt much, much better than before starting the diet. And, if most are like me, will marvel on what a wonderfully filling and satisfying diet it is and will tell them selves that the low-carb diet is really the only diet worth following.
Okay, that’s the set up. Here is the question:
Why are low-carb diets so difficult to stick to for so many who have had the above experience?
When I am in full low-carb mode, genesis-ing that neo glucose like crazy, I feel like a million bucks. I’m not hungry, I don’t really obsess on food, and I have energy out the yang. So, why would I ever go off the diet? I can assure you that I do. And sometimes I go off in a bad way for longer than I should. I pick up a few pounds, finally get a grip on myself and plunge back into low-carbery. When I’m back sailing along, I wonder why I ever went off in the first place. So, why did I do it? Why do we all do it?
Here is what Don DeLillo writes in White Noise that is apropos to our question:
Who knows what I want to do? Who knows what anyone wants to do? How can you be sure about something like that? Isn’t it all a question of brain chemistry, signals going back and forth, electrical energy in the cortex? How do you know whether something is really what you want to do or just some kind of nerve impulse in the brain? Some minor little activity takes place somewhere in this unimportant place on one of the brain hemispheres and suddenly I want to go to Montana or I don’t want to go to Montana.
The above quote leads off Jonah Lehrer’s new book How We Decide, which I’ve started, but haven’t finished. I got the book because of an article of Lehrer’s I read in the Dallas paper when I was there a couple of weeks ago. So far, the book has met and exceeded all my expectations. And tomorrow night, I’m going to meet the author, so I’d like to get most of the book finished by then.
The article in the Dallas paper got me thinking about diets, low-carb diets in particular. And about how much easier it would be for all of us if a lot of things changed. Before I go into detail, read this excerpt from the article:
A recent experiment…sheds light on what happens inside the brain when people make shopping decisions. While economists have long assumed that consumers are rational agents and purchase goods based on calculations of utility, that assumption turns out to be false. In reality, every shopping decision is an emotional tug-of-war, as the pleasure of getting something new competes with the pain of spending money.
The experiment went like this: A few dozen lucky undergraduates were given a generous amount of cash and offered the chance to buy dozens of different objects, from a digital voice recorder to gourmet chocolates to the latest Harry Potter book. While the students were making their shopping decisions, the scientists were imaging the activity inside their head with a powerful brain scanner.
They discovered that when subjects were first exposed to the item, a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) was turned on. The NAcc is a crucial part of our dopamine reward pathway – it’s typically associated with things like sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll – and the intensity of its activation was a reflection of desire for the item. If the person already owned the complete Harry Potter collection, then the NAcc didn’t get too excited about the prospect of buying another copy. However, if he’d been craving a George Foreman grill, then the NAcc flooded the brain with dopamine whenever that item appeared.
But then came the price tag. When the subjects were exposed to the cost of the product, the insula was activated. The insula is associated with aversive feelings, and is triggered by things like nicotine withdrawal and pictures of people in pain. In general, we try to avoid anything that makes our insula excited. Apparently, this includes spending money.
By measuring the relative amount of activity in each brain region, the scientists could accurately predict the subjects’ shopping decisions. They knew which products people would buy before the people themselves did. If the insula’s negativity exceeded the positive feelings generated by the NAcc, then the subject almost always chose not to buy the item. However, if the NAcc was more active than the insula, the object proved irresistible. The sting of giving up cash couldn’t compete with the thrill of getting a George Foreman grill.
So far, nothing much new other than putting names to the parts of the brain - NAcc and insula - that constantly debate with one another over what we’re going to buy or do. We think we make decisions rationally, but we really don’t. We make them because our brain chemicals tell us what to do. As I mentioned in a previous post, we can control this to a little better extent than Mr. Lehrer indicates that we can.
But this constant debate goes on in our brains, with our spendthrift hedonistic NAcc wanting to buy, buy, buy while our tightfisted, frugal, money-hoarding insula trying to hold the line. That this debate occurs is not lost on retailers. They want to do whatever they can to encourage the NAcc and discourage the insula.
…retail stores already manipulate this cortical setup. Just look at the interior of a Costco. It’s no accident that the most covetous items are put in the most prominent places. A row of high-definition televisions surrounds the entrance. The fancy jewelry, Rolex watches and other luxury items are conspicuously placed along the corridors with the heaviest foot traffic. And then there are the free samples of food, liberally distributed throughout the store.
The goal of these discount warehouses is to constantly prime the pleasure centers of the brain, to keep us lusting after things we don’t need. Even though we probably won’t buy the Rolex, just looking at the fancy watch makes us more likely to buy something else, since the coveted item activates the NAcc.
But it’s not enough to just excite our reward centers: Retailers must also inhibit the insula. This brain area is responsible for making sure we don’t spend excessively, and when it’s repeatedly assured by retail stores that low prices are “guaranteed,” it stops worrying so much about the price tag. In fact, researchers have found that even when a store puts a promotional sticker next to the price tag – something like “Bargain Buy!” or “Hot Deal!” – but doesn’t actually reduce the price, sales of the item will still dramatically increase.
These retail tactics lull our brain into buying more things, since the insula is pacified. (Paying with a credit card seems to have a similar effect. Because the actual payment is postponed until the end of the month, the insula doesn’t fully process the pain of spending money. Of course, this leads, over time, to rampant credit card debt.)
This inner-brain debate we all have going on and the retailers response to it is a kind of model of what happens to us when we’re cruising along on our low-carb diets. Before we get into the specifics however, let’s look at how this model works with another form of pleasurable and addictive behavior.
Smoking involves these same parts of the brain, the NAcc and the insula. Back in the 1930s, 40s and 50s a whole lot of people smoked. In fact, it was all the rage. As my mother never tires of telling me whenever I point out the negative health consequences of her own past smoking, back then you were regarded as an outcast if you didn’t smoke. Although people may have wondered deep in their heart of hearts if it were really a good thing, their NAccs got plenty of encouragement everywhere. All the movies made during the time were filled with actors smoking, characters on television series smoked (Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke, for instance), talk-show hosts smoked (Johnny Carson always had a cigarette going), cigarette ads were everywhere. And if you thought that maybe tobacco might not be good for you, there were even ads showing doctors who smoked and who recommended smoking. Even cartoon characters smoked. People smoked on planes, in restaurants, at work, at meetings - everywhere. You couldn’t get away from it. It was the norm. Your NAcc got a boost everywhere you looked and your insula was inhibited.
Compare then with now. In most places you can’t smoke in restaurants, in California you can’t even smoke in bars, you can’t smoke in planes, you can’t smoke much of anywhere. You don’t see a lot in movies, and when people do smoke, it really stands out, and looks pretty revolting. If you do try to smoke publicly, you will be glowered at by someone. You are bombarded with ads showing the negative effects of smoking. Whenever you hear someone died of lung cancer, you always ask if he/she was a smoker. And if so, you may have less sympathy. Whereas in the 30s, 40s and 50s the entire system was set up to encourage and enable smokers, it is the opposite now. As a consequence, way, way fewer people smoke. Why? Because even though the NAcc might still want to smoke, the insula has so much encouragement from the world around, that it easily overcomes whatever desire the NAcc might have.
The insula can be pretty strong, too. Alcoholism is a severe type of addiction and dependency, but can be held at bay by Alcoholics Anonymous. How? By attending meetings and getting the insula all fired up to cease and desist when alcohol is around. I have a friend who is an addictive personality type and who is a bad alcoholic with a bad, bad history of alcoholic self destruction. He’s been sober now for over ten years, but right before attending ANY event where alcohol will be available (including dinner at our house), he finds an AA meeting to get his insula topped off.
When we think about low-carb dieting in these terms, it is clear that we low-carbers are operating in a high-carb world. We are the low-carb equivalent of the non-smoker in the 1950s. We are considered unusual.
Everywhere we look we are bombarded with carbohydrate temptations. No place is safe. Just like the cigarette ads that were ubiquitous in days gone by, so now are the carbohydrate ads. You can’t pick up a magazine, turn on the TV or even look in a newspaper without your eye falling on an advertisement for carbohydrates. Nutritionists recommend them; dietitians recommend them; doctors recommend them; even the government recommends them.
If you tell three people you’re on a low-carb diet, I can almost guarantee that at least one of them will tell you that you are going to croak your kidneys or dissolve your bones. Probably another is going to tell you that although you may lose some weight, you will do so at the risk of clogging your arteries. Your insula is gathering info. Everything you hear like this beats down your insula just a little more, making it more prone to look the other way when your NAcc wants to take control.
Looking at this situation, it’s remarkable that anyone is able to stay on a low-carb diet for any length of time at all. In the ongoing debate in our heads between the NAcc and the insula, the insula doesn’t stand a chance. Society is aligned today to prod the NAcc with carbs just like it did with cigarettes a couple of generations ago, even though it was/is disastrous for health. And as it was then, society today is aligned to discourage the insula. Just like the retailers with merchandising, societal forces are pimping our NAccs and distracting our insulas.
When you’re doing well on the low-carb diet, your NAcc is happy, and if you hang in there and keep immersing yourself in low-carb info (this blog, other low-carb blogs, low-carb forums, low-carb books, etc.), your insula stays happy. But let yourself get away from this insular world, and what happens?
You go out for a nice dinner and hear comes the bread basket, often filled with warm, aromatic bread. All your dinner companions are scarfing it down. Hey, what’s a little piece of bread going to do to you, for God’s sake? (If you happen to find yourself in the unfortunate position of having not had a booming weight-loss week, you’re really in trouble.) Then the dessert tray comes after dinner, and if you’ve had a little bit to drink, you may be a goner. Alcohol is the gateway drug for carbs - as a general rule, the more you drink, the more carbs you eat. Hey, you only live once. Go for it. You head home after consuming about three day’s worth of carbohydrates. You resolve to do better the next day, but you’ve derailed the smooth running of all the metabolic processes that your low-carb diet had set in motion, and the next day it will be a little harder to get back on track.
Your NAcc has been beguiled by the carbs while your insula has been overcome (overtly) by your dinner companions and (covertly) by the high-carb society in which we all live, where you’ll hear things such as: Hey, it’s okay. Everyone knows that carbs are good for you. We’re supposed to consume at least 150 g per day for good health. I saw a doctor on Oprah who said we don’t get ENOUGH carbs.
And you wonder why it’s tough to stay on a low-carb diet? And you wonder why you have cravings? It’s pretty obvious when you think about it in these terms.
What can we do? Aside from the Glasser techniques that I wrote about before that serve mainly to get us away from the temptation, the best thing to do is pump up our own insulas. Just like my friend who goes to AA before any exposure to alcohol to get his inhibitory insula ready to dominate his NAcc, you’ve got to prep yourself. Go through all the reasons you’re on a low-carb diet. Think about how good you’re feeling. Think about all the good things you have going with your low-carb diet. Get yourself psyched up just as if your were going out to play in the Super Bowl. It sounds corny, but that’s what AA does, and it’s very effective. I call this getting into diet mode or putting on your diet face. We’ve all got to do this until the world changes.
Think how nice it will be when the world comes to its senses about diet and realizes the superiority of the low-carb diet for health and weight. We will be bombarded with ads for different cuts of meat. Instead of the smell of fresh baked bread in stores, we’ll get the aroma of sizzling bacon. We’ll be presented with dozens of options for foods prepared with coconut oil and butter. We will look at an overweight person eating a big carb meal with the same disgust we now feel toward someone who is coughing his/her lungs out while smoking. At restaurants we will have to ask for starch, and it may cost extra. Dessert trays will be filled with different varieties of berries and other low-carb fruits. If there is a tart or something similar, we’ll be assured that it comes with a crushed-almond crust and no added sugar. Should such a world ever exist, our NAccs will constantly be stimulated with the foods that are actually good for us and that are, unlike carbohydrates, satiating, and our insulas won’t really have to be inhibited, so we will be in constant NAcc drive to eat properly. Won’t it be grand?
When that time comes (and it probably will - who would have thought in the 40s that a time would come when no one smoked), I’ll pity the poor folks trying to sell low-fat diet books.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
http://freedomtheconstitutionandpatriotism.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Scientists: HRT use related to breast cancer
By Personal Liberty News Desk • Feb 6th, 2009 • Category: Health, Personal Liberty News
A large study has found a drop in breast cancer cases after a reduction in the use of certain types of hormone replacement therapy.
HRT is sometimes prescribed to women battling symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and psychological problems, but scientists at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center now believe that it may expose patients to a higher risk of breast cancer and heart disease.
In particular they flag up combination therapy which uses both estrogen and progestin in one pill as causing an elevated level of risk if used for more than two years, based on their analysis of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s randomized clinical trial.
"A woman who continues combined hormone therapy [for] about five years would double her personal annual risk of breast cancer," Dr Marcia Stefanick, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a co-author of the analysis, was quoted as saying by healthday.com.
The risk decreased rapidly when the women stopped taking the pills.
In 2002, the NHLBI stopped the trial of estrogen plus progestin therapy when researchers noticed a rise in breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism cases.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
A large study has found a drop in breast cancer cases after a reduction in the use of certain types of hormone replacement therapy.
HRT is sometimes prescribed to women battling symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes and psychological problems, but scientists at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center now believe that it may expose patients to a higher risk of breast cancer and heart disease.
In particular they flag up combination therapy which uses both estrogen and progestin in one pill as causing an elevated level of risk if used for more than two years, based on their analysis of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s randomized clinical trial.
"A woman who continues combined hormone therapy [for] about five years would double her personal annual risk of breast cancer," Dr Marcia Stefanick, a professor of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine and a co-author of the analysis, was quoted as saying by healthday.com.
The risk decreased rapidly when the women stopped taking the pills.
In 2002, the NHLBI stopped the trial of estrogen plus progestin therapy when researchers noticed a rise in breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and pulmonary embolism cases.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Amazing Benefits of Vitamin D
By Bob Livingston • Jan 19th, 2009 • Category: Bob Livingston, Health, Personal Liberty Articles
“This month’s big news is Professor Cedric Garland’s paper on cancer and vitamin D. Is vitamin D a cancer crusher? Dr. Garland and six other experts reviewed all the studies in the literature and concluded that up to 50 percent of all cancer could be prevented by adequate Vitamin D nutrition.” From: American Journal of Public Health.
Today, it is well established that besides playing a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of the calcium in the body, vitamin D also acts as an effective regulator of cell growth and differentiation that is specific to cancer.
Clinical studies now show that vitamin D deficiency is associated with four of the most common cancers:
Breast
Prostate
Colon
Skin
DiabetesVitamin D deficiency has been associated with insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. It was shown in 2005 that vitamin D deficiency is likely the major factor for the development of diabetes in children.
Heart Disease and Vitamin DAs in diabetes, insulin resistance is one of the major factors in heart disease. Well, northern countries have higher levels of heart attacks in the winter months when there is no vitamin D from sunshine. How simple to take vitamin D supplements—dirt cheap!
SkinThe health news of the century: Dermatologists have made mega-dollars for years with graphic scares about skin cancer caused by sunshine. Of course they don’t know about colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and 25 other internal cancers caused by sunlight deprivation. Think what enormous damage and death the sunscreen purveyors and users have caused.
Over age 50?Scientific evidence proves that vitamin D improves neuromuscular performance in older people. It improves everything like better body balance, fewer hip fractures and even hair growth. It makes natural antibiotics that humans rely on to fight infection. There is a very positive connection between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D.
And now I reveal the secret of vitamin D and you can say that you have been told. Here it is: We do not get nearly enough vitamin D. We need 10 times as much as the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and that is up to 4,000 to 10,000 units daily.
My friends, if you have any health concerns related to the above, get in touch with The Vitamin D Council: Find The Vitamin D Newsletter on the Internet at www.vitamindcouncil.org.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
“This month’s big news is Professor Cedric Garland’s paper on cancer and vitamin D. Is vitamin D a cancer crusher? Dr. Garland and six other experts reviewed all the studies in the literature and concluded that up to 50 percent of all cancer could be prevented by adequate Vitamin D nutrition.” From: American Journal of Public Health.
Today, it is well established that besides playing a crucial role in the establishment and maintenance of the calcium in the body, vitamin D also acts as an effective regulator of cell growth and differentiation that is specific to cancer.
Clinical studies now show that vitamin D deficiency is associated with four of the most common cancers:
Breast
Prostate
Colon
Skin
DiabetesVitamin D deficiency has been associated with insulin deficiency and insulin resistance. It was shown in 2005 that vitamin D deficiency is likely the major factor for the development of diabetes in children.
Heart Disease and Vitamin DAs in diabetes, insulin resistance is one of the major factors in heart disease. Well, northern countries have higher levels of heart attacks in the winter months when there is no vitamin D from sunshine. How simple to take vitamin D supplements—dirt cheap!
SkinThe health news of the century: Dermatologists have made mega-dollars for years with graphic scares about skin cancer caused by sunshine. Of course they don’t know about colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and 25 other internal cancers caused by sunlight deprivation. Think what enormous damage and death the sunscreen purveyors and users have caused.
Over age 50?Scientific evidence proves that vitamin D improves neuromuscular performance in older people. It improves everything like better body balance, fewer hip fractures and even hair growth. It makes natural antibiotics that humans rely on to fight infection. There is a very positive connection between multiple sclerosis and vitamin D.
And now I reveal the secret of vitamin D and you can say that you have been told. Here it is: We do not get nearly enough vitamin D. We need 10 times as much as the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and that is up to 4,000 to 10,000 units daily.
My friends, if you have any health concerns related to the above, get in touch with The Vitamin D Council: Find The Vitamin D Newsletter on the Internet at www.vitamindcouncil.org.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Recipe for Youth: A Pinch of Basil... Ancient Herb for Anti-Aging
New research adds more evidence to what practitioners of Ayurvedic natural medicine have believed for thousands of years -- Indian basil has anti-aging properties. Popularly known as holy basil (Ocimum sanctum) or tulsi, Indian basil was studied by researchers at the Poona College of Pharmacy in Pune, India, and the results were reported at the recent British Pharmaceutical Conference, "Pharmacy in the 21st Century: Adding Years to Life and Life to Years," in Manchester, United Kingdom.
While there are more than 40 varieties of basil (all members of the mint family), holy basil in particular has tremendous cultural importance in India and Nepal and is among the most important herbs in the Ayurvedic tradition. It is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including stress, heart and respiratory problems, diabetes, digestive and skin disorders, inflammation and pain. In this study, researchers set out to substantiate traditional Ayurvedic beliefs in holy basil's antioxidant and rejuvenation properties.
HOLY BASIL HAS ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT
Experimental groups of mice received either no extract of holy basil or one of three different doses. The findings showed cellular antioxidant effects. Lead author Vaibhav Shinde, MPharm, says that the study concluded that holy basil "is highly protective against oxidative damage, with a multidimensional role -- it scavenges free radicals, balances the antioxidant enzyme system, and stimulates metabolism of oxidative waste products."
Holy basil is typically ingested in one of two ways... the traditional Ayurvedic method is to boil fresh leaves and water until the water reduces to half. Then you can either drink the resulting "tea" or eat the crushed herb when it cools. However, since it is difficult to find the fresh leaves in the US, you can also use dried holy basil. It is also available as an ingredient in commercially available herbal teas.
Holy basil has a clove-like fragrance and a sharper, spicier taste than the more familiar sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) commonly used in Italian, Asian and American cooking, though the two are closely related. Holy basil can be found online and in health food stores as a supplement and the fresh leaves are available in many Thai and Vietnamese markets. Generally speaking, however, it is more valued for cultural and healing purposes than for cooking.
Source(s): Vaibhav Shinde, MPharm, lecturer, department of pharmacognosy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth University.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
While there are more than 40 varieties of basil (all members of the mint family), holy basil in particular has tremendous cultural importance in India and Nepal and is among the most important herbs in the Ayurvedic tradition. It is used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including stress, heart and respiratory problems, diabetes, digestive and skin disorders, inflammation and pain. In this study, researchers set out to substantiate traditional Ayurvedic beliefs in holy basil's antioxidant and rejuvenation properties.
HOLY BASIL HAS ANTIOXIDANT EFFECT
Experimental groups of mice received either no extract of holy basil or one of three different doses. The findings showed cellular antioxidant effects. Lead author Vaibhav Shinde, MPharm, says that the study concluded that holy basil "is highly protective against oxidative damage, with a multidimensional role -- it scavenges free radicals, balances the antioxidant enzyme system, and stimulates metabolism of oxidative waste products."
Holy basil is typically ingested in one of two ways... the traditional Ayurvedic method is to boil fresh leaves and water until the water reduces to half. Then you can either drink the resulting "tea" or eat the crushed herb when it cools. However, since it is difficult to find the fresh leaves in the US, you can also use dried holy basil. It is also available as an ingredient in commercially available herbal teas.
Holy basil has a clove-like fragrance and a sharper, spicier taste than the more familiar sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) commonly used in Italian, Asian and American cooking, though the two are closely related. Holy basil can be found online and in health food stores as a supplement and the fresh leaves are available in many Thai and Vietnamese markets. Generally speaking, however, it is more valued for cultural and healing purposes than for cooking.
Source(s): Vaibhav Shinde, MPharm, lecturer, department of pharmacognosy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth University.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Chamomile Tea Protects Against Diabetes Damage
Chamomile is one of the most popular herbal teas. Moms give it to their children to soothe tummy aches and may have a cup themselves to relieve stress or gastrointestinal discomfort. People turn to chamomile tea to calm themselves at bedtime or to reduce cold and flu symptoms... and now evidence has emerged that it may also be helpful in preventing complications of type 2 diabetes. Recently discussed research with Stanley Mirsky, MD, an associate clinical professor of medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and coauthor of the Diabetes Survival Guide, shows this.
CHAMOMILE QUENCHES FREE RADICALS
Chamomile is thought to be beneficial for people with diabetes because it is so rich in antioxidants, which quench free radicals in the body that contribute to disease by allowing inflammation to flourish. In Japan and the United Kingdom (same study, multiple international authors in different locations), researchers fed diabetic rats a chamomile extract prepared from the dried flowers of Matricaria chamomilla for 21 days. When compared with a similar group of rats who also had diabetes and were fed the same diet but without the chamomile, the chamomile-treated animals had a significant drop in blood sugar. There was also a decline in two enzymes that are associated with dangerous diabetic complications such as loss of vision, nerve damage and kidney damage.
Results of the study were published in the September 10, 2008, issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The researchers expressed hope that these preliminary findings might one day lead to a chamomile-based treatment for diabetes that would be cheaper and have less side effects than pharmaceutical treatments.
Even as this research continues, it may be helpful to add chamomile tea to your diet. For those who like it (and have no contraindications, as it is known to interact with certain medications), it may be a good substitute for sugary sodas or fruit juices, which can wreak havoc on blood sugar levels. Check with your doctor first.
Source(s): Stanley Mirsky, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, and coauthor of the Diabetes Survival Guide (Ballantine). Dr. Mirsky is a practicing internist and diabetologist, a past president of the American Diabetes Association of New York State and a board member of the Joslin Diabetes Center. He was named Endocrinologist of the Year for 2005 at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
CHAMOMILE QUENCHES FREE RADICALS
Chamomile is thought to be beneficial for people with diabetes because it is so rich in antioxidants, which quench free radicals in the body that contribute to disease by allowing inflammation to flourish. In Japan and the United Kingdom (same study, multiple international authors in different locations), researchers fed diabetic rats a chamomile extract prepared from the dried flowers of Matricaria chamomilla for 21 days. When compared with a similar group of rats who also had diabetes and were fed the same diet but without the chamomile, the chamomile-treated animals had a significant drop in blood sugar. There was also a decline in two enzymes that are associated with dangerous diabetic complications such as loss of vision, nerve damage and kidney damage.
Results of the study were published in the September 10, 2008, issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. The researchers expressed hope that these preliminary findings might one day lead to a chamomile-based treatment for diabetes that would be cheaper and have less side effects than pharmaceutical treatments.
Even as this research continues, it may be helpful to add chamomile tea to your diet. For those who like it (and have no contraindications, as it is known to interact with certain medications), it may be a good substitute for sugary sodas or fruit juices, which can wreak havoc on blood sugar levels. Check with your doctor first.
Source(s): Stanley Mirsky, MD, associate clinical professor of medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, and coauthor of the Diabetes Survival Guide (Ballantine). Dr. Mirsky is a practicing internist and diabetologist, a past president of the American Diabetes Association of New York State and a board member of the Joslin Diabetes Center. He was named Endocrinologist of the Year for 2005 at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sweat More, Wheeze Less
Don't complain about how much you sweat when you work out -- it could actually be one of the reasons you can work out. A recent study shows that people who sweat more are less likely to have exercise-induced asthma, a type of asthma that typically arises suddenly, five to 10 minutes into a workout, or even after the workout is over. One moment you are playing tennis or basketball or running... the next, you're experiencing symptoms of asthma, such as wheezing, coughing, chest pain and/or a shortage of breath. It can even happen in people with no history of asthma.
WHO GETS EXERCISE-INDUCED ASTHMA?
Exercise-induced asthma (or EIA) is brought on by continuous, strenuous aerobic activity, such as running or cross-country skiing. A research study on EIA has provided some insight into who those particularly susceptible individuals might be. At the US Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Warren Lockette, MD, and his team of researchers analyzed the rate of fluid secretion (in sweat, saliva and tears) in young members of the military suspected of having EIA. To identify those with the condition, researchers gave 56 healthy volunteers a drug that produced similar physiological effects as EIA and then measured their airflow. Those who experienced a 20% or more drop in airflow were confirmed to have EIA. Next he measured their sweating rates, along with fluid secretions from the mouth and eyes.
The results (published in September 2008 issue of Chest) showed that people least likely to have EIA produced more sweat and had more saliva and tears than those who are prone to the condition. Those with low airflow also had the lowest rates of fluid secretion in their mouths or eyes and on their skin from sweat. Dr. Lockette says he was surprised by the magnitude of the correlation between sweating rates and EIA.
SWEAT IS A GOOD THING
How is sweat linked to exercise-induced asthma? Dr. Lockette thinks that external secretions, such as sweat and saliva, reflect how much water is normally secreted within the lung's airways. The drier the airways, the more likely EIA will occur. If this is true, then "giving attention to hydration and nutrition is the next area to study," says Dr. Lockette. He is doing just that. More information about the root causes of EIA may lead to solutions -- such as better hydration -- that are easier and safer than current options, including prescription medications taken orally or with inhalers, which carry their own risks. Stay tuned.
Source(s): Warren Lockette, MD, head of clinical research, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
WHO GETS EXERCISE-INDUCED ASTHMA?
Exercise-induced asthma (or EIA) is brought on by continuous, strenuous aerobic activity, such as running or cross-country skiing. A research study on EIA has provided some insight into who those particularly susceptible individuals might be. At the US Naval Medical Center in San Diego, Warren Lockette, MD, and his team of researchers analyzed the rate of fluid secretion (in sweat, saliva and tears) in young members of the military suspected of having EIA. To identify those with the condition, researchers gave 56 healthy volunteers a drug that produced similar physiological effects as EIA and then measured their airflow. Those who experienced a 20% or more drop in airflow were confirmed to have EIA. Next he measured their sweating rates, along with fluid secretions from the mouth and eyes.
The results (published in September 2008 issue of Chest) showed that people least likely to have EIA produced more sweat and had more saliva and tears than those who are prone to the condition. Those with low airflow also had the lowest rates of fluid secretion in their mouths or eyes and on their skin from sweat. Dr. Lockette says he was surprised by the magnitude of the correlation between sweating rates and EIA.
SWEAT IS A GOOD THING
How is sweat linked to exercise-induced asthma? Dr. Lockette thinks that external secretions, such as sweat and saliva, reflect how much water is normally secreted within the lung's airways. The drier the airways, the more likely EIA will occur. If this is true, then "giving attention to hydration and nutrition is the next area to study," says Dr. Lockette. He is doing just that. More information about the root causes of EIA may lead to solutions -- such as better hydration -- that are easier and safer than current options, including prescription medications taken orally or with inhalers, which carry their own risks. Stay tuned.
Source(s): Warren Lockette, MD, head of clinical research, Naval Medical Center, San Diego, California.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
How about a little levity from past issues of Dave Draper's weekly Newsletter
It's good to ask questions. That's how you learn. And I learn, too, because I have to stop and think and wonder. And then I have to put the answers into words that everyone can understand.
Do you remember last summer we had very nice questions?
Q) Why are weights so heavy? A) So nobody steals them.
Q) Why are weights round? A) So you can roll them if you can't lift them.
Q) Why don't they make wooden weights? My uncle is a carpenter.A) We want to save trees and it takes one tree to make one weight. Myuncle was a plumber.
Q) Why do they call the little bars dumbbells?A) Because stupid-bells sounds ridiculous.
Q) How can I get the scratchy rough stuff off the part of the bar where Igrab it? It hurts my hands.A) Use a nail file or sandpaper, or cover it with duct tape like I do.
Q) Why do weight lifters do the same exercises over and over again? I gettired.A) So they don't forget how to do them. I get tired, too. And bored.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Do you remember last summer we had very nice questions?
Q) Why are weights so heavy? A) So nobody steals them.
Q) Why are weights round? A) So you can roll them if you can't lift them.
Q) Why don't they make wooden weights? My uncle is a carpenter.A) We want to save trees and it takes one tree to make one weight. Myuncle was a plumber.
Q) Why do they call the little bars dumbbells?A) Because stupid-bells sounds ridiculous.
Q) How can I get the scratchy rough stuff off the part of the bar where Igrab it? It hurts my hands.A) Use a nail file or sandpaper, or cover it with duct tape like I do.
Q) Why do weight lifters do the same exercises over and over again? I gettired.A) So they don't forget how to do them. I get tired, too. And bored.
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
http://gkprenttoown.blogspot.com/
Skype: georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
http://georgefitnesstrainer.wordpress.com/
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Arthritis Epidemic In America
Bob Livingston • Feb 2nd, 2009
There is more dairy farming in America than in any other country. Yet we have more arthritis, or calcium deficiency disease.
The first reason for this arthritis plague is because of public health laws that coerce us to drink adulterated milk. By force of law all commercial milk must be a dead food before the customer consumes it.
Pasteurization is required and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) test of pasteurization is that the alkaline phosphatase enzymes must be dead (by heating) for the milk to be approved for sale to the public.
The alkaline phosphatase enzyme is the live ingredient in raw milk that causes the formation of bone. The American people are denied this bone-forming food although they drink millions of gallons of (so-called) milk.
The second reason for the arthritis plague in America is that even though calcium supplements are tops in health food sales, it is almost worthless as a food supplement for the formation of bone.
Be reminded that bone is one-third calcium, one-third protein and one-third water. Ninety-nine percent of our calcium is in our bones. Only 1 percent is in our blood and tissue. But this 1 percent is so critical that if the 1 percent gets low, calcium will be drawn from the body skeleton. The blood and tissue calcium is so vital to life that the body forces our bones to give up calcium in order to balance blood and tissue because survival depends on it.
There may be a constant calcium release from your bones leaving them weaker and subject to arthritis. Usually calcium is first withdrawn from the spine and pelvic bones.
So calcium supplements that we consume simply go through the intestines and are excreted. Only if we take vital D3 (cholocalciferol) is our calcium intake absorbed from the stomach into the blood.
So in reality, our calcium deficiency is a D3 deficiency. This means that the critical 1 percent of blood and tissue calcium is absolutely dependent on vitamin D3.
Low blood and tissue calcium leads to high body temperature. This is the same as saying that high body temperature denotes low blood and tissue calcium. This is the direct route to disease and sickness.
D3 as cholocalciferol is the most potent hormone in the human body.
Now that the genie is finally out of the bottle the public is discovering the life-giving and life-sustaining attributes of vitamin D3. Because of this, I predict that vitamin D3 will be cut off except by prescription, making it a pharmaceutical drug. The justification will be that vitamin D3 is not a vitamin but a hormone, and must be controlled. Score another for the pharmaceutical trusts.
The pharmaceuticals will make a drug that will be toxic in minimum amounts. The effect will be to deny the American people adequate amounts of vitamin D3 to sustain blood and tissue diffusible calcium. The body will in turn draw calcium from the bones guaranteeing the continuation of the arthritis epidemic in America.
The main thing to understand is that no matter how much calcium we take, without vitamin D3 (cholocalciferol), it is worthless as a defense against arthritis.
Arthritis begins as osteomalacia, or lower limb pain, after prolonged vitamin D3 deficiency. This becomes full-blown crippling arthritis. Osteomalacia is a precursor, or forewarning, of arthritis to come. Doctors automatically suspect that the onset of lower limb pain is arthritis and start a toxic drug protocol. But it is likely to be only a deficit of D3 cholocalciferol.
I have Follicular Lymphoma. One of the supplements given to me by my doctor is Vitamin D3. Follicular Lymphoma pulls the Calcium out of my spine just as you indicated in your article. This loss of Calcium also led to kidney stones. I have to say there is no pain like the pain of kidney stones. I have had women tell me who have had kidney stones themselves that giving birth was not as painful as kidney stones. I am glad to say that I am now entering a maintenance program to monitor my health to hopefully prevent the cancer from returning. The method of defeating this cancer was Vitamin C infusion through an IV. I highly recommend if anyone has cancer to look into this method. I had Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma and was given one year to live from last August 2008. I have been a personal trainer for thirty-two years and am back doing what I do best. Great Article!!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
Skype:georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
There is more dairy farming in America than in any other country. Yet we have more arthritis, or calcium deficiency disease.
The first reason for this arthritis plague is because of public health laws that coerce us to drink adulterated milk. By force of law all commercial milk must be a dead food before the customer consumes it.
Pasteurization is required and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) test of pasteurization is that the alkaline phosphatase enzymes must be dead (by heating) for the milk to be approved for sale to the public.
The alkaline phosphatase enzyme is the live ingredient in raw milk that causes the formation of bone. The American people are denied this bone-forming food although they drink millions of gallons of (so-called) milk.
The second reason for the arthritis plague in America is that even though calcium supplements are tops in health food sales, it is almost worthless as a food supplement for the formation of bone.
Be reminded that bone is one-third calcium, one-third protein and one-third water. Ninety-nine percent of our calcium is in our bones. Only 1 percent is in our blood and tissue. But this 1 percent is so critical that if the 1 percent gets low, calcium will be drawn from the body skeleton. The blood and tissue calcium is so vital to life that the body forces our bones to give up calcium in order to balance blood and tissue because survival depends on it.
There may be a constant calcium release from your bones leaving them weaker and subject to arthritis. Usually calcium is first withdrawn from the spine and pelvic bones.
So calcium supplements that we consume simply go through the intestines and are excreted. Only if we take vital D3 (cholocalciferol) is our calcium intake absorbed from the stomach into the blood.
So in reality, our calcium deficiency is a D3 deficiency. This means that the critical 1 percent of blood and tissue calcium is absolutely dependent on vitamin D3.
Low blood and tissue calcium leads to high body temperature. This is the same as saying that high body temperature denotes low blood and tissue calcium. This is the direct route to disease and sickness.
D3 as cholocalciferol is the most potent hormone in the human body.
Now that the genie is finally out of the bottle the public is discovering the life-giving and life-sustaining attributes of vitamin D3. Because of this, I predict that vitamin D3 will be cut off except by prescription, making it a pharmaceutical drug. The justification will be that vitamin D3 is not a vitamin but a hormone, and must be controlled. Score another for the pharmaceutical trusts.
The pharmaceuticals will make a drug that will be toxic in minimum amounts. The effect will be to deny the American people adequate amounts of vitamin D3 to sustain blood and tissue diffusible calcium. The body will in turn draw calcium from the bones guaranteeing the continuation of the arthritis epidemic in America.
The main thing to understand is that no matter how much calcium we take, without vitamin D3 (cholocalciferol), it is worthless as a defense against arthritis.
Arthritis begins as osteomalacia, or lower limb pain, after prolonged vitamin D3 deficiency. This becomes full-blown crippling arthritis. Osteomalacia is a precursor, or forewarning, of arthritis to come. Doctors automatically suspect that the onset of lower limb pain is arthritis and start a toxic drug protocol. But it is likely to be only a deficit of D3 cholocalciferol.
I have Follicular Lymphoma. One of the supplements given to me by my doctor is Vitamin D3. Follicular Lymphoma pulls the Calcium out of my spine just as you indicated in your article. This loss of Calcium also led to kidney stones. I have to say there is no pain like the pain of kidney stones. I have had women tell me who have had kidney stones themselves that giving birth was not as painful as kidney stones. I am glad to say that I am now entering a maintenance program to monitor my health to hopefully prevent the cancer from returning. The method of defeating this cancer was Vitamin C infusion through an IV. I highly recommend if anyone has cancer to look into this method. I had Stage 4 Follicular Lymphoma and was given one year to live from last August 2008. I have been a personal trainer for thirty-two years and am back doing what I do best. Great Article!!
George Pragovich
Cancer Recovery and Fitness Specialist
Trainer of Personal Trainers
931-378-7850: Home
206-202-0944: Fax
gkp@charter.net
Skype:georgefitnesstrainer
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.blogspot.com/
http://cancerrecoveryandfitnessspecialist.wufoo.com/forms/please-contact-me/
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