Encouraging Health

No doubt you’ve started thinking about all the salads you’re going to eat when you start trimming down next year. But those salads might work better if you add a little salmon.

Here’s why: It seems that fish oil, besides boosting your heart health, may also help you burn fat. And if you add fish oil to your diet and you exercise, you could really boost your calorie burning!

Omega-3s, Please
Fish oil is full of anti-inflammatory and artery-clearing omega-3 fatty acids that help protect your ticker.

Food Why Recommended
Amount RealAge
Difference
Nuts Nuts contain monounsaturated fats to keep your arteries clear, as well as levels of precursors of serotonin to boost mood. 1 ounce of nuts a day is just right. (More is fine, but be careful of calorie overload.) An ounce is about 12 walnuts or 24 almonds. Men: 3.3 years younger.

Women: 4.4 years younger.
Fish
especially wild salmon, whitefish, tilapia, catfish, flounder, mahi mahi Fish contain artery-clearing omega-3 fatty acids. Aim for 13.5 ounces of fish a week, or 3 servings, each about the size of your fist. 2.8 years younger.
Soybeans Soybeans contain heart- and artery-healthy protein, fiber, and fats. 1 cup of soybeans a day. 0.4 years younger.
Tomato juice and spaghetti sauce Tomatoes contain folate, lycopene, and other nutrients to keep arteries young. 8 ounces a day of juice or 2 tablespoons of spaghetti sauce a day. At least 1 year younger.
Olive oil, nut oils, fish oils, flaxseed, avocados All of these foods contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. 25% of daily calories should be healthy fats 3.4 years younger.
Real chocolate(at least 70% cocoa) Real chocolate increases dopamine release and provides flavonoids, which keep arteries young. 1 ounce a day (to replace milk chocolate)

But these fatty acids may also help fuel your metabolism.

Look into Encouraging Health For more fishy ideas!

fish, diet, health

fish, diet, health

When your blood pressure (BP) creeps up, help knock it down with this simple change in diet.

Get 20 percent of your daily calories from whole-grain, high-fiber foods instead of refined “white” carbs. It could drop your systolic BP 4 to 8 points and your diastolic BP another 6 to 8 points. Start with these fiber-rich recipes below.

Double Trouble
High blood pressure and high cholesterol are double trouble. Both put you at risk for cardiovascular disease, and they frequently occur together. If you have borderline high cholesterol (200-239 mg/dL) and prehypertension (120-139/80-89 mm Hg), it’s time to take action.

Here’s How Fiber Helps
Both soluble and insoluble fiber were shown to lower blood pressure in middle-aged people with the unfortunate combo of borderline high cholesterol and prehypertension. Soluble fiber does double duty by lowering cholesterol, too.

Why do I need fiber in my diet?
Dietary fiber is the part of plants that cannot be digested. There are 2 kinds of dietary fiber. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to keep foods moving through the digestive system. Soluble fiber holds water which, in turn, softens the stool for easy bowel movements. Fiber is an important part of your diet even though it passes through your body. A high-fiber diet can:

reduce cholesterol levels
promote regular bowel movements
improve blood sugar levels in diabetics
treat diverticular disease (inflammation of part of the intestine) and irritable bowel syndrome (abdominal pain, diarrhea, and constipation that come and go).
A high-fiber diet may help prevent some cancers, such as colon and breast.

If you do not have enough fiber in your diet, you may have constipation. Your bowel movements may be small, hard, and dry.

What can I do to increase fiber?
When increasing the fiber in your diet, it is best to do so slowly, because large, sudden increases can cause discomfort, gas, and bloating. Start with small changes, like switching to whole-grain bread, and add a new source of fiber each week or two. You may have some gas or bloating at first, but your body will adjust in time.

Start your day with a high-fiber breakfast cereal.
Buy more fruits and vegetables. If you buy them, you’ll probably eat them. Use carrot sticks or apple slices for snacks.
Include fruits or vegetables with every meal. Cooked fiber is just as effective as raw fiber.
Eat whole-grain breads.
Add whole grains and dried beans to casseroles.
Serve fruit-based desserts.
If you have constipation even though you have added high-fiber foods to your diet, talk to your health care provider about fiber laxatives. Psyllium is a soluble fiber that is often used for this purpose. It can be taken as a pill or as a powder that is mixed in a glass of water. Always read and follow the directions on the label carefully.
Adding fiber to your diet is easy, and a high-fiber diet can provide long-term health benefits.

Get more ideas from Encouraging Health.

fiber

fiber

Superior response was found particularly in patients with the most difficult-to-treat form of the disease, genotype 1 HCV.

For patients infected with genotype 2 or 3, a 24 week course of treatment with flat dose RBV + PEG-IFN was as effective as the standard 48-week course, with better tolerability, and in the overall study population flat dosing of ribavirin was as effective as weight-based ribavirin. However, within the flat-dose cohort of patients with genotypes 2 and 3, sustained response rates showed a slight decline in the higher weight patients given flat-dosed ribavirin.

“These findings help define optimal therapy for U.S. hepatitis C patients,” says the study’s principal investigator, Dr. Ira M. Jacobson, the Vincent Astor Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “Our findings underscore that weight-based-dosed combination therapy is significantly more effective than the flat-dosed RBV regimen, especially in more difficult-to-treat patient groups, such as patients with genotype 1 and African-American patients. Patients being treated for hepatitis C should talk to their doctors to be sure they are receiving the most effective therapy.”

Reported in the same journal is a subanalysis of the WIN-R data that evaluates the efficacy of weight-based dosing among African-American participants with genotype 1 infection. Twice as many of these patients cleared the virus when treated with the weight-based RBV regimen vs. the flat dose (21% vs. 10%); a lower rate was shown in the general study population with genotype 1 HCV, 34% vs. 28.9%. (However, the fact that over 300 patients with an end of treatment response missed their 24-week, post-treatment follow-up appointment accounts for some treatment failures under a strict intent-to-treat analysis.)

“These results are particularly significant for African-Americans, a group with known lower rates of response to HCV therapy than reported in other ethnic groups. Weight-based dosing vs. flat dosing clearly showed the greatest therapeutic impact in this group,” says Dr. Jacobson.

“The study data strongly suggest adopting a 1400 mg/dose for patients who weigh more than 105 kg. In my opinion, the larger dose provides an opportunity for very heavy patients to have the same chance of cure as lighter patients without compromising safety,” says Dr. Jacobson.

Overall safety with weight-based dosing was similar to that of the flat 800 mg dose. There was no difference in the occurrence of serious adverse events in the entire group, as well as in the African-American group.

Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C is the most common blood-borne infection in America. It affects approximately 4 million people, or about one in every 50 adults, including a disproportionately high percentage of African-Americans. Chronic hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer. It has been estimated that at least 20 percent of patients with chronic hepatitis C develop cirrhosis, and a smaller percentage of patients with chronic disease develop liver cancer. Patients with chronic hepatitis C and related cirrhosis are 100 times more likely to develop liver cancer than uninfected persons. About half of all cases of primary liver cancer in the developed world are caused by hepatitis C, and hepatitis C-related liver disease is now the leading cause for liver transplants.

hepatitis c, liver disease, chronic disease

hepatitis c, liver disease, chronic disease

You’ve heard of a green thumb. But how about green knees?

Could be a good way to describe the youthful knees of a green-tea devotee. Potent compounds in green tea — EGCG and ECG — may help battle cartilage and collagen destruction in arthritic joints.

Catechin Delight
The EGCG and ECG found in green tea are powerful flavonoids known as catechins. Seems these particular catechins may help fight inflammation, as well as some of the underlying mechanisms at work in both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

A Better Plan?
Of course, drinking a few cupfuls of green tea each day is no guarantee against knee pain, so here are a few of the more tried-and-true methods for keeping knees healthy:
* Lose weight if you are overweight. Excess pounds raise your risk of knee arthritis. Check your BMI here.
* Play it safe. A knee injury will triple your risk of knee osteoarthritis. When you exercise, take proper precautions to avoid getting hurt.
* Strengthen your quads. Weak quadriceps muscles are associated with knee arthritis, so work them out regularly, along with your hamstrings and all of your other leg muscles.

Knee Exercise: Leg Lifts

Warm up your knee joints by walking around awhile before you start this knee exercise.
Choose your location.

Beginners can do this knee exercise by sitting on the floor, or on a firm bed.

Make sure your back is well supported. Lean back on your hands, or against the headboard.

Place a pillow under your right knee.

Lift your right foot a few inches, and feel the back of your knee push into the pillow.

Hold for 10 seconds, then rest your leg.

Repeat this exercise until you feel a slight burning in the front of your leg. This knee exercise strengthens your quad muscle, which will help to support your kneecap and knee joint.

Repeat with the left leg, first placing the pillow under your left leg.

As with your right leg, hold for 10 seconds, then relax. Continue this knee exercise until you feel a slight burning in your quad muscle.
Do this knee exercise at least twice a day, increasing the number of leg raises as your quad muscles get stronger.

Note: When you can easily do this knee exercise for 3 minutes or more, you can add more resistance by sitting in a chair, straightening your leg and lifting it. Keep your leg straight while lifting, but do not lock the knee.

One can do these when watching cw>.

knees, knee exercise, EGCG, ECG, arthritic joints

knees, knee exercise, EGCG, ECG, arthritic joints

43 percent told researchers their obese child was ‘about the right weight’

A startling number of parents may be in denial about their youngsters’ weight.

A survey found that many Americans whose children are obese do not see them that way.

That is worrisome because obese children run the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems and other ailments more commonly found in adults. And overweight children are likely to grow up to be overweight adults.

“It suggests to me that parents of younger kids believe that their children will grow out of their obesity, or something will change at older ages,” said Dr. Matthew M. Davis, a University of Michigan professor of pediatrics and internal medicine who led the study, released earlier this month.

“When I see a child that is obese at these younger ages, I take that as a sign of ways nutrition can be improved, a child’s activity level can be improved.”

Among parents with an obese, or extremely overweight, child ages 6 to 11, 43 percent said their child was “about the right weight,” 37 percent responded “slightly overweight,” and 13 percent said “very overweight.” Others said “slightly underweight.”

Awareness grows with child’s age
For those with an obese child ages 12 to 17, the survey found more awareness that weight was a problem. Fifty-six percent said their child was “slightly overweight,” 31 percent responded “very overweight,” 11 percent said “about the right weight” and others said “slightly underweight.”

Under-reporting problem?
Based on what the parents reported, 15 percent of the children ages 6 to 11, and 10 percent of the children ages 12 to 17, were obese.

The Michigan researchers said that, too, suggests parents underestimate their children’s weight. National estimates indicate about 17 percent of U.S. children are obese under the standard used by the researchers.

Dr. Reginald Washington, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and part of the AAP’s committee on childhood obesity, noted that in about half of cases where a child is obese, one or both parents are overweight, too _ and parents can take a pediatrician’s concerns as a personal affront.

Experts said doctors need to help parents better understand the health risks of childhood obesity.

“Obesity isn’t just something that affects the clothes that you buy or how you are perceived by your friends and your schoolmates,” Davis said. “It is something that can have health effects, not only in adulthood but in childhood.”

For more information about parenting, see http://www.parentingsites411.com/

obese kids, parental denial, childhood diabetes

obese kids, parental denial, childhood diabetes

No doubt about it. Olive oil is one of the healthiest fats around.

But you’ll kill the health benefits if you overheat it. It can become rancid and generate toxic chemicals. One solution: Instead of heating the oil in the pan, just spritz some on your veggies, meats, or taters before cooking them.

Tastes Bad, Too
It’s fairly easy to overheat both olive oil and cold-pressed canola oil, because they have relatively low smoking points (the point at which they begin to burn). You’ll know if you’ve overheated the oil, because it leads to that burned, charcoal flavor. Yuck.

Different Temps, Different Tastes
Semirefined sesame oil, peanut oil, grape-seed oil, and virgin olive oil may be your best choices for cooking, because they contain mainly unsaturated fat and have relatively high smoking points; all of the oils can be heated in excess of 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Extra-virgin olive oil starts to burn at about 320 degrees Fahrenheit. Unrefined canola and sunflower oils are even more delicate, burning at about 225 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once an oil has been overheated, you end up canceling out the major benefits. But treat the oils right and they’ll treat your body right, too.

What About Corn Oil?
Have you pushed aside the butter dish and switched to the tubs of trans fat-free margarine? Have you kicked lard to the curb and now brown, sauté, and bake with corn or vegetable oil? Many of us are resting easy in the knowledge that as long as we eat mostly the good kinds of fat—meaning unsaturated fats—our hearts are probably in the clear, right?

Not so. Merely switching to unsaturated fats is not the only key to healthful fat consumption. The latest research shows that if you’re not paying attention to the kinds of unsaturated fats you choose, or how much you get of certain kinds of unsaturated fats in comparison to others, you may be leaving the door wide open to health hazards on par with killers like heart disease.

The old facts on fats
Some things haven’t changed. As with other foods, if you are eating too much fat, regardless of kind, and are not expending a similar number of calories, you’re risking weight problems and all of the related health complications.

However, there are many good things fat can do for you. Dietary fat is a necessary part of maintaining energy levels and it provides the body with essential fatty acids that it cannot produce on its own. Dietary fats aid in nutrient absorption, make foods more palatable, and help you feel sated. They also assist the body in the production of substances that are essential for immune function, tissue repair, and prostaglandin production.

Fat is still part of a healthful diet, so it’s important to know what kind of fat you are eating and stick to mostly unsaturated fats.

Search my column,http://www.encouraginghealth.com/ for more posts on Olive Oil.

olive oil

olive oil

Want to eat more and weigh less? Think “density” when you’re choosing foods.

In nutrition lingo, foods that are low in “energy density” have lots of water and fiber, but little fat and fewer calories. How do they stack up nutritionally? Just fine, according to a new study. For example, a piece of apple pie has about 400 calories; for the same calories, you can crunch on five healthful apples — and since one or two will fill you up, you’ll skinny down.

Some low energy-density foods:

Energy Density = Calories / Weight in Grams per serving

Food Calories/Weight(g)
Apples 0.52
Bananas 0.88
Corn Pasta 1.25
Chicken Breast Cooked 1.97
Strawberries 0.32
Instant Oatmeal w/ Water 0.55
Instant Oatmeal w/ Water 0.55
Raw Tomato 0.21
Raw Snap Green Beans 0.31
Raw Snap Green Beans 0.31
Raw Green Peppers 0.20
Raw Yellowfin Tuna 1.1
Baked Potato 0.93
1% Cottage Cheese 0.72
Hard-boiled Egg 1.55
Creamed Sweet Corn 0.71
Water Canned Pineapple 0.32

When you eat more foods that are dense in everything but fat and calories — think juicy melons, pears, cucumbers, broccoli, and berries — it not only helps keep you slim but also revs up the nutritional quality of your diet.

When researchers compared people on low, medium, and high energy-density diets, they discovered that women who favored foods low in energy density averaged 250 fewer calories a day compared to those in the other groups; men averaged 425 fewer calories. Yet the nutritional quality of their meals didn’t suffer. In fact, they had higher intakes of vitamins A, C, and B6; folate; iron; calcium; and potassium.

In other words, eating low on the density scale isn’t just good for your waist, it’s good for your health; the extra fiber and nutrients fight disease as well as pounds.

Which foods are naturally dense? The stars are fruits and veggies. So although your daily intake should include plenty of whole grains — and some healthy fats and low-fat protein (beans, fish, lean poultry) — replace some of these with extra veggies. Later, grab an orange or banana for a snack. Then, watch your waist whittle down.

Try some of these healthy recipes that can be made from low energy-density foods.

low energy-density foods

low energy-density foods

Wish you could control yourself better when that bowl of candy or pile of buffalo wings presents itself?

Here’s a trick to try.

Leave the evidence. Whether it’s the candy wrappers on your desk, the wing bones on your dinner plate, or the empty cookie box on your kitchen counter, seeing the proof of your indulgence can help curb overeating.

Seeing Is Believing
In a study, people who went to a sports bar could eat chicken wings free of charge and to their hearts’ (and stomachs’) content. Servers cleared away the bones at some tables but let the bone plates pile up at others. No surprise: People ate less when evidence of their feast remained front and center.

4 More Sensible Strategies
A few other ways to stop yourself from eating more than you should:

Eat a bit of healthy fat before a meal.

Eat the Good Fat First
Choosing the right appetizers may help you eat less
Written by RealAge, Inc., peer-reviewed by Dr. Axel Goetz, September 2004

If you’re trying to watch your weight, you don’t have to entirely avoid that bread basket and dish of olive oil before your meal. Noshing on whole-grain bread dipped in olive oil may actually help you eat less overall. Consuming a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat, such as olive oil, before a meal slows the rate at which the stomach empties, which means:
You’ll digest your food more slowly, so you’ll eat less but still feel full.
Your blood sugar won’t hit a high peak after you eat, but will remain at a lower, stable level.
Your body will more easily absorb fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D, E, and K, as well as fat-soluble nutrients such as lycopene and lutein.

Eat three meals a day, plus several healthy snacks, so you’re never ravenously hungry.
Size up — accurately — what’s on your plate.

Be smart about artificial sweeteners.

too much food? Try a game.

food, smart eating, healthy portions

food, smart eating, healthy portions

Medical sleuths examine clues from ‘A Christmas Carol’

Cute story-finally an answer.

Ebenezer Scrooge may be the most memorable character from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” with his “Bah, humbug!” and stingy ways. But medical sleuths are more interested in the book’s biggest unanswered question: What exactly was wrong with Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit’s sickly son?

Online detectives have been debating this question for years, using clues taken from the book to form possible diagnoses.

Internist Dr. Daniel J. Glunk, president-elect of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, has examined all of these theories and determined that many seem to have merit in identifying Tiny Tim’s ailment.

The symptoms
We know that Tiny Tim was growing up in London in the mid-1800s, a time when heavy smog lay thick in the air, blocking sunlight.

From Dickens’ descriptions of the lad, we know he was very small, used a crutch and was very sick. Because Scrooge was a well-known, well, scrooge, it is clear Cratchit’s meager salary was not enough to buy good food and medicine for his son. From the scenes Scrooge sees while being visited by the ghosts, we see Cratchit carrying Tiny Tim from time to time, a possible sign of muscle fatigue. We also learn through Scrooge’s time travels that Tiny Tim would soon die.

At the end of the book, readers are led to believe that the pay raise the changed Scrooge gives Bob Cratchit helps to save Tiny Tim.

Kidney disease
One theory floating around the Web is that Tiny Tim suffered from renal tubular acidosis (RTA), a kidney disease that makes blood too acidic.

According to Glunk, RTA occurs when the kidneys fail to excrete acids into the urine, cause the acid to build up in the blood. The result can be growth retardation, kidney stones, bone disease and progressive renal failure—symptoms that seem to match some of Tiny Tim’s.

“Tiny Tim is small, has malformed limbs and periods of weakness,” Glunk said. “These all can be the result of RTA. Plus the fact that Tiny Tim’s condition is fatal if left untreated, but reversible if proper medicine is used, helps to guide medical sleuths to RTA.”

While 19th century doctors wouldn’t have been able to test for the disease or even put a name on it, they did know the symptoms and how to treat them, Glunk said. Frequent doses of alkaline substances would have been given to such patients, which would neutralize the acid in the blood.

Rickets
Other Internet sleuths have suggested that Tiny Tim suffered vitamin D deficiency, commonly called rickets.

Rickets was a widespread problem in cities with heavy smog that blocked sunlight, a major source of vitamin D.

Without vitamin D, the body can’t absorb calcium and has difficulty building and maintaining strong bones. Some signs of rickets include soft bones, muscular weakness, osteoporosis, and joint pain.

“Knowing London’s environmental conditions at that time and knowing Tiny Tim used a crutch, it’s reasonable to consider this disease, despite the fact that vitamin D wasn’t discovered until the early 20th century,” Glunk said. “At the time, they could have unknowingly treated this condition through better foods that Scrooge helped to buy.”

Of course, it’s nearly impossible to say for sure what was ailing Tiny Tim, but that won’t keep armchair online physicians from combing for clues to other possible diagnoses.

Go to http://www.thebookstacks.com/ for more fiction.

tiny tim, renal tubular acidosis, vitamin D deficiency, ricketts, scrooge

tiny tim, renal tubular acidosis, vitamin D deficiency, ricketts, scrooge

C’mon, admit it.

You think of potatoes as a complete no-no. All carbs, and no nutrition.

And, yes, you may want to cut back if you’re concerned about blood sugar spikes. Just keep in mind that potatoes are also chock-full of over 30 phytochemicals and vitamins. So a ‘tater here and there is nothing to feel bad about. Here’s the sensible way to get your spud on.

Fabulous Phenols, and More
Packed with heart-healthy vitamin C, potassium, and phenols like quercetin, the potato may one day prove to be a potent disease-fighter. What’s more, spuds are a significant source of chlorogenic acid, shown in some studies to thwart liver cancer.

Prudent Portion
Of course, it’s still not smart for your waist or blood sugar to slab a heaping portion of fries or mashed potatoes onto your plate every night (My Mother loved mashed potatoes! No meal was complete without them.) Potatoes can have their place in a healthful diet. They’re low in fat if cooked right, and if you eat the skin, you get a fiber boost as well.

But keep in mind that potatoes are considered a high-glycemic-index carb — the kind of carb that can cause blood sugar to spike, then drop suddenly. And too much of that may set the stage for diabetes. Case in point: Women in a study who ate one daily serving of starchy potatoes or two weekly servings of french fries had a slightly higher diabetes risk compared with the non-spud-loving lasses. The effect was even worse when the women ate potatoes in place of whole grains., so be sensible when they come around the table.

One of the best ways to get your spud on? Eat half of a baked potato with the skin on, so you get a fiber boost. And drizzle a little olive oil and salsa on top to healthfully balance the glycemic load while still boosting the flavor.

Too much mashed potatoes? Go look at www.AllSportsReport.com.

potatoes, mashed potatoes, vitamin C, potassium, phenols, chlorogenic acid, liver cancer

potatoes, mashed potatoes, vitamin C, potassium, phenols, chlorogenic acid, liver cancer