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August 2008 - Posts
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Labor Day began as "a day off for working citizens", a day of rest to spend with family and friends. Through the years, Labor Day has grown to signify picnics, Labor Day sales, barbecues, fireworks and the return to school for many children. It also marks the start of the football season and the beginning of the general Presidential election season (like this year). Overall, it's a symbolic and action-packed holiday.
So enjoy yourself this holiday weekend, whatever you may have planned.
Have a safe and healthy Labor Day!
Justin
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Hormones are our body’s messengers; they respond to emotion, stress, reproduction, and aging. If they are out of balance, rapid aging, pre-menstrual syndrome, menopausal difficulties, and prostate issues may become present. To keep your hormones in check, follow these simple tips:
1. Drink enough water. Water is necessary for all bodily reactions, and hormonal imbalance can be avoided with proper hydration. Drink whenever you are thirsty. And, if you exercise or live in hot climates, you may need more. A good rule is to make sure your urine is a clear light yellow.
2. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. These are good sources of fiber, which can help detoxify your body of extra hormones, and the extra nutrients will promote hormonal balance. If possible, go organic, as pesticides can trigger hormonal imbalance.
3. Eat cruciferous vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens, cabbage, and turnips contain detoxifying compounds that prevent accumulation of unhealthy hormones and may also reduce cancer risk.
4. Steer clear of sugar and caffeine. Both disrupt hormonal balance because they can stress your endocrine system. In addition, they cause rapid increases and crashes in blood sugar which may cause food cravings, irritability, and headaches.
5. Limit alcohol to 2 drinks or less per day. Hormonal symptoms can worsen due to dehydration and overworking of the liver, both of which are caused by alcohol.
6. Consume organic, hormone-free or range-fed meat and dairy instead of commercial products. Decreasing the amount of pesticide residues and artificial hormones entering the body will avoid confusion of natural hormonal signals inside the body.
7. Eat unsaturated (good) fats rather than saturated (bad) fats. Hormone production depends on good fats, which include avocado, flaxseed, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish. Try Nature’s Path Organic Ground Premium Flaxseed or Bob’s Red Mill ground flax meal – 2 tablespoons a day (see label below). Make sure the seeds are ground for absorption by the body. Bad fats such as full-fat dairy and fatty meats can block hormone production pathways so limit these as much as possible.
8. Get adequate shut-eye. During sleep, the liver detoxifies, which helps it to work more effectively. And, a healthy liver is more likely to produce a healthy balance of hormones.
Rebecca
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In healthy living, many things seem to be black and white:
Smoking = unhealthy
Being active = healthy Being overweight or obese = unhealthy
But every now and then an article is published that reminds us that health isn’t always so cut and dry. You may remember a study that was widely publicized nearly a year ago, which showed that extra weight doesn’t necessarily mean extra health risks – such as risk of dying from heart disease or cancer.
Recently studies have gone a step further. An article published last week in The New York Times discussed studies showing that the most important factor in mortality is fitness, not Body Mass Index. One study found that as many as one-third or one-half of people who are overweight or obese are healthy in terms of blood pressure, blood glucose and HDL (or “good”) cholesterol – all of which contribute to heart risks.
In other studies, researchers looked at fitness level using a treadmill test. They found that overweight people who performed well on a treadmill test had lower heart risks than those who were slimmer and did not perform well. And a longitudinal study found that those with the lowest fitness level were four times as likely to die.
In fact, just minimal fitness has been shown to cut risk by as much as half. So it sounds like good news all around: If you’re not exercising regularly, now may be a good time to talk with your doctor about beginning a fitness program. And if you’re exercising consistently but having trouble taking off extra weight, it seems your efforts may not be in vain.
Kerry
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Borrowing a few lines from Toby Keith:
I wanna talk about me
Wanna talk about I
Wanna talk about number one
I don’t typically break out into song (well…not outside the
shower anyway), but today is day for celebration. You're probably asking... what's to celebrate in late August? Is he happy summer is almost over? Is it his birthday, anniversary or some other special occasion? The answer to all is no. I love summer and my birthday and anniversary are both in May. What I'm celebrating is that for the first time in roughly
four months I was able to run pain free!
Let’s rewind back to January 1st. My New Year’s
resolution was to run at least 1 mile every day in 2008. And by mid-March I was
well on my way to achieving my goal. I had actually stepped it up – the
lowest mileage day I had up to that point was 2 miles. I had built a great base
to start training for the late spring races I wanted to run and would be in GREAT shape for the fall racing season. Then it all fell
apart.
After running one day the bottom of my foot started to hurt.
I thought maybe I overdid it a little or that maybe I just stepped the wrong
way. So after a few days of RICE (rest, ice, compression and elevation) therapy
I tried it again. Only this time the pain was 10 times worse. Unfortunately at
this point I knew exactly what it was – Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar Fasciitis is basically tendonitis on the bottom or your foot, which can be caused by the bottom of you foot stretching too far (usually caused by sudden wait gain) or a bone spur on you heal. In my case it was most likely caused by adding roughly 12 lbs (the weight of my backpack w/laptop) to my bodyweight. I ran home from work a few too many times.
Long story short… I was a good health care consumer and
rather than rushing off to the doctor I tried a conservative treatment path, taking
Advil, icing my foot and generally staying off it as much as possible. All the
research I had done indicated that it takes roughly three to four months for
Plantar Fasciities to heal. But after
four months of pain I had enough. My foot had gotten a little better, but it
wasn’t progressing any further, so I made an appointment with a foot and ankle
specialist.
After an X-ray determined that there was no bone spur
(thankfully, because that meant surgery) or stress fracture he recommended a
shot of cortisone and some anti-inflammatory medication. I’ll be completely
honest with you – I HATE SHOTS! But I said okay, because I was done limping
around. Now I’ve had enough injuries to know that when he said, “you’re going
to feel a pinch and then discomfort…” that this was doctor speak for – it’s
gonna hurt! And he wasn’t lying – a shot in the bottom of your foot isn’t a
pleasant experience, but the 30 seconds or so of pain was well worth it!
Because once the bruise from the shot disappeared I had no pain in my foot and
one week after the shot I was cleared to run.
So I’m back to running and with a little luck I’ll be able
to get back into reasonable enough shape to run the Army 10 Miler held here in Washington, D.C.
in October. And more importantly I can start training for my ultimate goal of completing an Ironman Triathlon next year –
see… I turn 40 next year and I’m not going quietly. Jason
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If you haven't tried the new Health Poll, now's the time Share your opinion and you could win a prize. If you respond to the Health Poll by August 31, 2008, you'll be entered in a sweepstakes drawing for a $25 gift card to a healthy food store.
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Summer temperatures are on the rise and so is the need for a frozen treat. If you are trying to make the healthiest choice, it can be confusing with all the latest choices for ice cream including low-fat, light, non-fat, or frozen yogurt. The good news is that with all the new choices, ice cream can be part of a healthy diet; it is just a matter of knowing what to look for on the label.
A number of the well-known premium higher fat ice cream brands, like Baskin Robbins, Haagen-Dazs, and Ben & Jerry’s, are now making "light" ice creams, too. Of course, their light ice creams can be nearly as high in fat and calories as other brands' regular ice creams. Do richer ice creams, which have around 16 grams of fat per serving, really taste much better compared with others that are as low as 4 grams of fat? The new ice cream technology – “slow-churned style” – gives the same satisfaction of thick and creamy texture for less fat and calories. The ice cream sales have gone through the roof after Edy’s released their slow-churned ice cream. For example, the slow-churned yogurt or ice cream blends like Edy's Cappuccino Chip have only 110 calories and 3.5 grams of fat per serving. Others might be drawn to Edy's Loaded Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup which has only 140 calories and 6 grams fat per serving. Both of these taste so good, that I can’t imagine that it would be that much more enjoyable to eat one of the premium ice creams, with 16 or more grams of fat per serving.
 
To avoid any confusion there are five main things to look for on the label of an ice cream treat. It's not all about fat grams! Per ½ cup serving (the standard serving for scoop ice cream), your best bets will have:
4 grams of fat or less
Around 120 calories
3 grams or less of saturated fat
No more than 10 milligrams cholesterol per serving
15 grams of sugar or less per serving. (Many ice creams have almost double this amount. Watch out for frozen yogurts they may be fat-free but really high in sugar!) 
Lastly portion control can be an issue when it comes to ice cream. Only a ½ cup is a serving for ice cream and most people have a hard time sticking to one small scoop when they dip into the half gallon of ice cream. If you have trouble with portion control then the other option is to choose individual serving ice cream bars and fudgsicles. There are several choices once again. Keep the same things in mind that were mentioned above for the healthiest choice when deciding what to buy and enjoy!
Rebecca
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Okay, I admit it… I thought I was ready for the Olympics,
but at about night three it became very apparent that I was in no shape for the
Games of the XXIX Olympiad. I’m exhausted and we’re just finishing the first
week of the games.
As you may have guessed… I’m a huge fan of the Olympics. I
joke that once every four years I don’t sleep for two weeks. And while that may
be a bit of exaggeration, my sleeping habits are certainly impacted by the
games.
My obsession with the Olympics isn’t just that I’m a sports
junkie - although that is certainly a major contributor to my addiction. I’m
sure this sounds corny and scripted, but it really is the “spirit of the games”
that captivates me. The athletes at the Games are here for the love of their
sport. And in today’s era of millionaire athletes, sponsorships and
endorsements – I think this is something that we in the U.S. have lost
sight of.
Other than celebrations of pure joy have you seen any of the
grand standing or show boating that we think is synonymous with sports? Take
Michael Phelps for example - who by all accounts is the face of these Olympics.
He doesn’t celebrate each preliminary victory as if he’s won the gold medal and
after he does win a gold medal (and sets a world record doing it) you don’t see
him getting out the pool to put on a show, or pull some prop out from under his
starting block. However, watch some of our professional athletes and the
celebrations they create after something as ordinary as catching a pass for a
first down you’d think they won the gold medal themselves.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not singling out Football players –
I love football and played it from the time I was 7 all the way through high
school. But whatever happen to just going out and doing your job and doing it
well? Let your play speak for you.
This is what the athletes in the Olympics do every day.
Whether they come in first or last they’re there representing their sport and
their country and in what I’ve seen so far – they’re ALL doing it well.
If you’re anything like me and you can’t get enough of the
Games, go to www.nbcolympics.com. They
have live and recorded video of all the events. And I encourage you to watch
some of the sports you may not be familiar with – maybe you or your children will
give one a try some day. Personally I recommend Judo, but that’s just me… Jason - Olympic Junkie
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A strong immune system can help you avoid illness, disease, and allergies, and also prevent aging and cancer by fostering normal cell development. Nutrition-wise, there are many ways to boost your immune system. For starters, safe food handling and daily adequate intake of all nutrients definitely helps.
Even a mild deficiency of a nutrient can alter your body’s ability to fight infections. Key nutrients which promote immune function include protein, vitamins A, B-6, C, and E, zinc, folate, selenium, and flavonoids. B-6 is essential for healthy lymphoid organs, the production of white blood cells, and fighting off infection, while selenium helps to control inflammation. Zinc, along with vitamin C, can decrease the duration and severity of the common cold, while folate reduces blood homocysteine and inflammation, decreases the risk of heart disease, and prevents birth defects.
In addition, low folate levels are associated with higher risk of cancer. Vitamins C and E act as antioxidants as they neutralize free radicals to save cells from damage, and flavonoids, found in citrus, berries, and some vegetables also have antioxidant properties and can help your immune system function smoothly. It’s easy to get lots of these nutrients into your diet. Here are some guidelines:
1. Start your day with a healthy, nutrient-packed breakfast. Whole-grain cereals, such as Kellogg’s Multi-Grain Cheerios (see label below) or Kashi Go Lean, low-fat yogurt, and orange juice can give you vitamin C, calcium, folate, fiber, and antioxidants. Found in yogurt, probiotics are live and active cultures that may ward off infections by improving the balance of bacteria in the gut.
2. Have pre-washed/pre-cut veggies available at all times. This will make a lunch vegetable salad a cinch; try to include as many colors onto your plate as possible, and add some beef, lamb, or pork to pump up your protein, zinc, and selenium intake.
3. Snack on fresh, whole fruits, nuts, and sip on black tea. This will give you vitamins A, C, E, and other antioxidants.
4. For dinner, add a handful of any type of beans to your pasta, soup, or rice. Beans are high in fiber, folate, and antioxidants.
5. Add in yogurt daily. Yogurt reintroduces good bacteria into the digestive tract to boost immunity. Danactive is a good source or you can try the many types of kefir as well.
Rebecca
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Please join us on Thursday, 8/14 at 3:00 p.m. ET for a Live Chat on YOU: The Owner’s Manual. The chat will be hosted by Dr. Tony, a California-area family practitioner. Dr. Tony has been sharing his thoughts on the book for the past several weeks in blogs and he’ll be ready to answer your questions about the topics in the book – and all aspects of staying healthier and younger.
And if you submit a question or comment during the Live Chat you’ll be entered into a drawing for one of 10 gift cards for $25 to a healthy food store.
To participate, log in to Ignite at the start of the chat. Then, click the Live Chat link on the home page.
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Washing hands with hot water and soap helps protect against the spread of germs. Covering your nose and mouth when you sneeze or cough can help you avoid passing on a cold. But how can you avoid catching…obesity?
A recent study presented at the National Bureau of Economic Research meeting in Massachusetts found that obesity is actually contagious. Researchers looked at international data on Body Mass Index (BMI) and perception of weight. One of the key findings was that women’s satisfaction with their weight is closely tied with their perception of their own BMI as related to the BMI of other women in their country. Overweight men were happy when the men around them were also overweight. In a nutshell, according to lead researcher Dr. Andrew J. Oswald of the United Kingdom’s University of Warwick, “What we're finding is that human beings are probably driven tremendously by comparison."
These results, while not terribly surprising, present an interesting conundrum. While you can take steps to prevent catching other things, how do you avoid catching obesity? Are we supposed to find a new set of friends? Spend less time with our families? These solutions are probably impractical in the least and will most certainly make us pretty unpopular.
Maybe a different way to look at these findings is yet another push to start a new routine – help yourself and your friends/family at the same time. Instead of parties and outings that are based around food, think about making health a core part of your events. For example, bring a healthier dish to potluck parties or exchange healthy recipes and encourage friends to try them at parties. Choose healthier restaurants for lunch with coworkers or take walking meetings. Last year, a friend of mine and I started a new routine – before our weekend lunch and shopping dates, we started running. The new routine is infectious (pun intended).
If you have other ideas, please feel free to post a comment to this blog.
Kerry
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For this “Fun Friday”, I want to share one of my favorite ‘summer break’ activities – swimming. Picture it! The sun is blazing and you’re frying from the heat. You dive into a pool and the water is crisp and cool. You take a few strokes and it feels fantastic to stretch your muscles and be active. Now that is my idea of a healthy summer break.
I have always been a big fan of swimming. When I was a kid, my mom used to take me and my sister and to my aunt’s house. She lived within walking distance to a lake and I remember spending countless weekends swimming, boating, and tubing around the lake. I also swam competitively when I was in high school which introduced me to the amazing health benefits of swimming. Swimming laps helped strengthen tone my muscles, build my lung capacity and gave me a great sense of accomplishment.
So now, I am always looking for fun activities to get me into the water.
In a few weeks, I am planning a trip to Six Flags: Hurricane Harbor. It is a water park near DC with tons of water slides and pools. I also just found out my local YMCA has open swim hours. For a few dollars, I can do laps, horse around in the pool or dive off the diving board.
When you're looking for something to do this summer, choose swimming. Whether it is doing laps or even horsing around in the pool, it's a great way have family fun.
So what are your favorite water activities? Click on the no comments link below below.
Justin
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Every day it seems like something new is discovered in science, medicine or how our bodies work. We may feel surprised, impressed, intrigued and sometimes excited or elated. I experienced some of those feelings as I turned the pages in the last chapters of YOU: The Owner’s Manual. The concept of having control over our emotions and guiding our hormonal and stress levels resonated very well with the new knowledge the book has enlightened us with in the earlier chapters.
I was extremely pleased with the guidance provided on managing our “Hell Cells & Cancer”. I have always been a big fan of anti-oxidants to help fight free radicals and prevent cancer but I was not aware of the new studies demonstrating the powerful anti-cancer effects of folate and aspirin. We have all heard at some time that our body’s immune system is continuously fighting to protect us from “mutant cancer cells”. Our killer T cell antibodies maintain constant patrol to search and destroy foreign cells, including cancer cells. It seems a bit scary when we realize that cancer cells that result from mutations are in our body every single day because we have over 70 million cell duplications (each duplication is a chance for a mutation) each day. People who damage their body cells excessively (smoking, sun burns, inflammation, etc.) will require more cell repair functions and a greater number of cell duplications.
I was amazed when I learned that folate (a B-complex vitamin) not only helps pregnant women avoid birth defects (works best if taken in first six weeks of pregnancy or before conception) but also decreases the risk of cancer in children by 60%. The studies showing a 20% to 50% decrease in colon cancer in adults was equally impressive. This was powerful new information. I acted on it immediately and took my vitamin supplement plus a vitamin B-complex to get a total of 800 micrograms.
Recently, I learned that obesity and smoking contribute to the incidence of almost 50% of all cancers. That fact is always startling because our lifestyle choices, including smoking, diet and activity level is something we can learn to control. Medications may help us reduce the burden of cancer or our risks, but counseling, preventive screening and professional support is also important. Once again, if you are over the age of 45, you can start to take 2 baby aspirins per day if you are not allergic aspirin and your doctor agrees. Always a big fan of aspirin, I was glad to see a 40% reduction in breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon caner in those who used an aspirin regimen.
Like all good books, this one has a great ending. In addition to an excellent ten day diet challenge to help you feel better and younger, there is also a simple exercise plan and a diet basics crib sheet. These are simple steps to get you started on a path that nourishes your body, keeps you healthy and vibrant regardless of the starting point for your journey.
Be sure to join me for the Live Chat on Ignite on YOU: The Owner’s Manual next Thursday, August 14 at 3:00 p.m. ET., where we’ll discuss all aspects of living healthier and younger.
Wishing you good health always,
Dr. Tony
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In Chapter 9 of YOU: The Owner’s Manual, the authors address the sensory organs. I thought we’d take this week’s Wednesday Label Review to talk about how these organs play into overall health as well as affect food choices.
Five of our sense organs – ears, eyes, lips, nose and tongue – are very important organs in our body. We use them to hear, to see, to taste and to smell. They are closely related to our heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys and lungs. When people have some uncomfortable feelings in one of their five senses, part of one of their internal organs may have started to fail. With that being said there are not specific foods to zero in on for good health of the organ system but rather an overall healthy diet is most beneficial.
Keep in mind, however, your sensory organs can lead you to overeat or make poor food choices, which don’t do our bodies any good. We are very sensitive to smell and this can trigger us to feel hungry or eat a food even if we are not hungry. If something tastes good then we may eat until it is gone rather than until we are satisfied. So let’s look at some tips to keep from you eating due to sensory overload.
1) Keep tempting foods out of sight (put them in opaque containers or store in cupboards).
2) Don’t buy unhealthy foods and have them around to tempt you.
3) Chew on a piece of gum or use a strong breath mint in situations where you are tempted by other foods.
4) Eat a small meal or snack before attending parties with unhealthy food choices.
5) Eat slowly – this way you give your body a chance to tell you it is full.
6) Pre-portion your meal – plan ahead what amount you are going to eat and have the rest boxed up or share an entrée or dessert with a friend.
Rebecca
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The new Health Poll is a great way to find out what other consumers think about a variety of health-related topics and give us your opinion, too. So be sure to check in often to share in the fun!
To participate in the Health Poll, just go to the Health Buddies Channel and look for the Health Poll. You must first be signed into Ignite. To sign in, click on `Sign in' if you have an Ignite username or `Join' to create one.If you respond to the first Health Poll between now and August 31, 2008 and you'll be eligible to win a $25 gift card to a healthy food store.
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Chapter 11 – This Gland is Your Gland – reminds us of the role of the endocrine system. The comparison of the endocrine system to the systems that keep a house comfortable is probably one of the better metaphors I’ve seen in this book – a book that contains many, many metaphors. Basically, it says that hormones regulate everything from body temperature to how we handle stress.
If you’ve been reading the book or the weekly discussions, you know that the authors address many common myths within each topic. The myths in this chapter were the ones that I had definitely previously believed. For example, the first myth is that hormones control our emotions. In fact, emotions control hormones. If you are stressed about something, you produce stress hormones, not the other way around. The second myth – that there is no proven mind-body connection – leads into a discussion of how the pituitary gland signals to all glands to release different hormones and dictate feelings.
The Live Younger Action Plan for this chapter is fairly straight-forward:
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Maintain Blood Pressure, since it helps control endocrine functions;
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Follow medication guidance by your physician;
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Eat healthy, including cruciferous vegetables, soy and foods rich in potassium and magnesium;
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Tell your doctors about any changes, like feeling tired, as they could be related to your endocrine system.
The focus of Chapter 12 – Hell Cells: Cancer – is on understanding cancer and how people can prevent and detect it. We learn how cancer cells work, including how they are created and how they multiply. In fact, every person has had cancer cells in them at one time or another – after all, the body has 70 million cell duplications each day. However, with most cancer cells, the body finds them and kills them immediately. It’s the cells that are not killed that can become dangerous.
The Live Young Action Plan for this chapter is focused on prevention and detection only:
- Eat key nutrients, including vitamin D3, folate, tomatoes, selenium and cruciferous vegetables;
- Get tested, including screenings for skin, breast, prostate and colon cancer (all at recommended ages);
- Take aspirin.
(It’s important to note that the steps are in addition to not smoking, wearing sunblock with SPF 45 and a 4-star UVA protection, controlling weight and being physically active.)
Dr. Tony will elaborate on these chapters this Thursday. If you have any questions, please post a comment to his blog.
In addition, we'll be announcing the Live Chat on this book, hosted by Dr. Tony, in the next couple of days. Stay tuned to Ignite for more info.
Kerry
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