Encouraging Health

From www.WebMD.com’s Message Board:

How much greens in the diet? (by Lou091852 on Jul-06-07)

I can only speak for what I am now eating.

I have always loved fresh salad and now have them three times a day as part of breakfast, lunch and dinner. My salads are composed of approximately 1.5 lbs. of greens (usually roamine, escarole, chickory, dandelion greens, or leaf lettuce), parsley, sprouts, red pepper, cucumber, tomato, fennel, red onion, kohlrabi, and celery. The dressing is a mix of balsamic vinegar and fresh lemon juice with fresh ground pepper and dried organic dulse flakes (seaweed). I am increasingly eating only organic vegetables and tomatoes and romaine (bless them) are now available from my garden which is grown organically.

I must sound a little like a cow but I love salads all year long and particularly at this time of year. I am sure this is healthy for the vitamins and phytochemicals I get, it helps fill me (I eat it first in the meal), I am steadily losing weight (now 168), and enjoy it thoroughly. Could it get any better?

By the way, for all of you fruit lovers who are trying to cut this down but love the sweet taste, I roasted 2″ pieces of butternut squash yesterday in an aluminum foil covered baking pan with a little water at 375 degrees for 40 minutes and had wonderful treat. The squash was tasty and really sweet. Who needs deserts. No spicing was needed either.

Have a good day.
–
Lou
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greens, healthy eating

greens, healthy eating

From www.WebMD.com:

Dark Chocolate May Help Blood Pressure
Eating 30 Calories Per Day of Dark Chocolate May Lower High Blood Pressure

The health benefits of dark chocolate may include lowering high blood pressure, German researchers report.

But overindulging in dark chocolate might blow your calorie budget, and packing on pounds could raise blood pressure. So portion control may help you have your dark chocolate and reap its health benefits, the new study suggests.

Small amounts of dark chocolate “efficiently reduced blood pressure,” report the researchers, who included Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, of Germany’s University Hospital of Cologne.

How small is a small amount of dark chocolate? Participants in Taubert’s study were limited to 30 calories per day of dark chocolate. That’s roughly the number of calories in a Hershey’s Kiss.

Dark Chocolate Benefit?
Taubert’s study included 44 adults aged 56-73 in Duisburg, Germany.

The 24 women and 20 men had mild high blood pressure (hypertension) or borderline blood pressure that fell just short of hypertension. They were otherwise healthy and weren’t taking blood pressure drugs or nutritional supplements.

Taubert’s team split participants into two similar groups.

One group got 30-calorie daily doses of dark chocolate for 18 weeks. The researchers checked the amount of cocoa in the German chocolate bars.

For comparison, the other group got a similar daily dose of “white chocolate,” which doesn’t contain chocolate liquor or cocoa.

Both groups got the same instructions: Take your chocolate dose two hours after dinner, don’t change your normal diet and fitness habits, and keep a diet and exercise diary.

Read more by clicking above.

dark chocolate, blood pressure

dark chocolate, blood pressure

From www.RealAge.com:

Where the Wild Cravings Are

That supersize bag of chips and gallon of caramel-swirl ice cream didn’t just jump into your grocery cart. So what happened?

There may actually be a very scientific reason why the jumbo bag of frozen Brussels sprouts didn’t leap into your cart instead, especially if you were shopping while hungry.(

Sweet and Salt Sensitive
In a study, researchers recently tested healthy men’s ability to taste salty, sweet, and bitter solutions. Turns out that when the men had skipped a meal, their taste buds were more tuned-in to sweet and salty flavors, but not so much the bitter ones — think broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and lots of other veggies.

Researchers suspect that our bodies may have been hardwired since ancient times to associate “sweet” and “salty” with “safe to eat,” so these flavors may be more likely to trigger eating, especially when the body needs energy.

Hunger-Control Central
Now that you understand the craving, maybe you’ll have more willpower the next time the candy aisle is calling. Here’s another way to control your eating habits: Eat three square meals a day, plus a snack, so you never get ravenous. And RealAge Drs. Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz recommend sticking to this online menu planner (http://www.realage.com/reg/regvar/regYOAD.aspx?mod=YOAD_MP) for your meals.

emotional eating, meal plan

emotional eating, meal plan

From www.RealAge.com:

Wrinkles and pimples? It just doesn’t seem fair.

If you’ve tried cleansers, astringents, and toners, but those stubborn red bumps are like nosy neighbors that just won’t go away, here’s something else to try: whole-grain cereal for breakfast.

Curb the Carbs
Reduced insulin sensitivity may be linked to pimple-producing hormones. That’s why eating a diet with a lower glycemic load glycemic load (we’re talking more lean meats and fish, more low-fat dairy, more whole grains, and fewer refined carbs) may help control acne — it helps improve your sensitivity to insulin.

That was the result when a group of men opted for more protein, whole grains, and fruit in a recent study. Their skin was clearer after just 12 weeks.

clear skin, insulin sensitivity, whole grains

clear skin, insulin sensitivity, whole grains

From www.RealAge.com:

Yellow stains aside, brewed coffee or tea may not be the worst thing you could swish past your pearly whites.

Other drinks tested in a recent study produced much more wear and tear on tooth enamel, especially bubbly soft drinks. But here’s the surprise: It didn’t matter if the sodas were diet or not.

Erosion Explosion
When your tooth enamel starts to erode, you’ve got major problems on your hands. And certain foods like sweets and sodas may hasten this process. All carbonated drinks in a recent study had some impact on tooth enamel (with the one possible exception being root beer — its impact on tooth enamel was slight). Citrus-flavored sodas hit teeth hardest, but colas caused problems, too. And it didn’t matter if the drinks were diet or full-sugar.

It’s the Acids
Contrary to what you might think, it’s not only the sugars in bubbly beverages that erode tooth enamel. It’s also the acids. The total acid content and acid type — look for names like phosphoric, citric, malic, and tartaric — in a beverage affect how strong the attack is on your choppers. Rinsing after sipping a soda may hasten the acids out of your mouth.

bad teeth, yellow teeth, soda, cola

bad teeth, yellow teeth, soda, cola

From msnbc.com/health:

The baby-faced kid is crushed against the chain-link octagon, swallowing punches from a fighter twice his size. His skin glows under the lights, until something gives way, and soon he’s covered in blood. He’s done — pinned, but too proud to tap out — yet the crowd jeers when the ref stops the fight. Even his father protests. Somehow, this Cleveland cage fight has become Caesar’s coliseum.

Why so angry? That’s the question I’m mulling ringside. And I’m not talking about the grapplers. As combatants in the unofficial minor leagues of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, one of the fastest-growing sports in America, their anger is subsidized. I’m talking about the fans. According to a 2006 Harvard study, 10 million adult men in the United States are so angry, they’re sick. In fact, their disease has a name: intermittent explosive disorder, or IED.

The condition has been on the books since 1980, but the Harvard study claims it’s far more common than anyone believed. Few people see psychiatrists because they can’t control their tempers. And those who do, say the researchers, are often misdiagnosed with other mental problems. Previous estimates put the number of IED sufferers in America at less than 0.5 percent of the population. But if the Harvard researchers are correct, almost 1 in 10 adult men routinely display wildly disproportionate aggression, and are so angry that they’re likely to damage property, or threaten or injure others. (The researchers estimate that only half as many women suffer from IED.)

Read the rest of this great article by clicking above, then come back and comment!

men’s rage, intermittent explosive disorder (IED)

men’s rage, intermittent explosive disorder (IED)

From CNN.com Health:

Nothing sounds — or tastes — better than the idea of eating your way out of cancer. So it’s disappointing news indeed that the Food and Drug Administration has deemed that tomatoes, so rich in antioxidants and other good things such as beta carotene, may not protect against many types of cancer after all, as some earlier studies had found.

The agency responded Tuesday to applications from two tomato-product groups, including H.J. Heinz Co., which planned to tout the anticancer benefits of tomatoes on their product labels. After a review of dozens of studies, however, the FDA found that there was “very limited evidence” to support any association between tomato consumption and reduced risks of prostate, gastric and pancreatic cancers. As for the believed cancer-fighting effects of lycopene, the key anti-cancer fighting ingredient in tomatoes, the FDA was even more discouraging, saying there was “no credible evidence” to suggest that the chemical could reduce the risk of such cancers of the prostate, lung, colon, breast, ovaries or pancreas.

The FDA’s findings, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, was an especially big blow to pasta-loving men everywhere. The first study to reveal tomatoes’ anticancer properties, conducted in 1989, had found that men who consumed one or more weekly servings of tomato sauce reduced their risk of prostate cancer by as much as 60%. Another large 12-year study of more than 47,000 men by Harvard researchers in 2002 found similar effects. Since then, however, other studies have failed to show the same benefits.

Read the rest of this enticing article by clicking above.

tomato,anticancer properties

tomato, anticancer properties

From msnbc.com Health:

China banned diethylene glycol — a thickening agent in antifreeze — from use in toothpaste Wednesday, one of its most significant concessions yet as it struggles to regain international confidence in the country’s beleaguered exports.

Chinese-made toothpaste containing the toxic substance, which can cause kidney failure, paralysis and death, has been yanked from sale in North and South America, Europe and Asia in recent weeks.

Diethylene glycol is used as a low-cost substitute for glycerin, a sweetener commonly found in drugs, food, toothpaste and other products. Although there have been no reports of health problems stemming from the toothpaste, dozens of people in Panama died last year after taking medicine contaminated with the chemical imported from China. It was passed off as harmless glycerin.

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China, Diethylene glycol, toothpaste

China, Diethylene glycol, toothpaste

From http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH

What happened? A new study reports that saw palmetto — a nutritional supplement widely used to treat prostate enlargement — is ineffective in relieving symptoms of enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH).

Saw palmetto is thought to prevent the breakdown of testosterone into a form of the hormone that increases prostate growth. In fact, earlier studies have shown saw palmetto to be as effective as the prescription medication finasteride. But the latest study disputes those findings.

Among 225 study participants, saw palmetto was no more effective than a placebo in improving urinary symptoms or objective measurements of prostate enlargement — regardless of the severity of symptoms or size of the prostate gland.

What does this mean to you? The study didn’t identify any adverse effects from taking saw palmetto. So there’s no harm in continuing to use it, if you think it’s working for you. But if you’re considering other treatments for enlarged prostate, discuss your options with your doctor. There are many proven ways to treat the signs and symptoms of an enlarged prostate — including medication, heat therapy, stents and various surgical procedures.

Saw palmetto, enlarged prostrate

Saw palmetto, enlarged prostrate

From RealAge.com:

Taking time away from work to squeeze in some exercise? Good for you — and your company.

That’s right. The less time you spend sitting on your bottom, the better your — and your company’s — bottom line. Here’s how and why.

Fit and Confident
Researchers suspect that the boost in confidence and energy that people get from regular exercise may spill over into their careers, giving them an edge. So not only does exercising keep your weight in check, but it also may give you a better shot at reaching your personal and professional goals.

Run Up Your Sales
But it may require more than a 10-minute walk at lunchtime to be a real go-getter. In a study of entrepreneurs, the business owners that ran regularly were the ones who enjoyed personal and professional side benefits. Not the runner type? Strength training also was linked to better personal-goal progress (although pumping iron didn’t affect company performance).

exercise, professional goals

exercise, professional goals