Encouraging Health

A team of researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Centre and Princeton University has discovered that existing anti-obesity drugs can be used to treat infections like flu, hepatitis or HIV.

Metabolism refers to a process by which living things break down nutrients to produce energy. For instance, the breakdown glucose and its conversation via chain reactions into adenosine triphosphate, the energy-storing currency of cellular life.

Glucose can also be converted into fatty acids - the lipid building blocks of human hormones and cell membranes - that are used by influenza, HIV and hepatitis viruses to build their viral cover and hijack human cells.

During the study, the researchers developed a new technique to analyse the mechanisms regarding how such viruses penetrate the metabolic building blocks from their cellular hosts.

They also studied the fluxes or concentration and turnover, of interchangeable molecules within the metabolic reactions that convert sugars into fatty acids.

“Using new fluxomic techniques, our study reveals that viral infection takes control of cellular metabolism and drives, among other things, marked increases in fatty acid synthesis,” Nature magazine quoted Dr. Joshua Munger, assistant professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Rochester Medical Centre, and a study author, as saying.

“We also found that if you target these increases in fatty acid metabolism using existing anti-obesity and anti-metabolism drugs, you inhibit viral replication,” Munger added.

The new technique enabled the researchers to measure the changes in metabolic flux in human cells as they became infected by human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), an enveloped virus of the b-herpes family that infects most human adults and that causes severe disease in those with weakened immune systems.

The team used drugs known to inhibit enzymes that build fatty acids, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) and fatty acid synthase (FAS), used in the treatment of obesity and high cholesterol, to determine whether HCMV-induced fatty acid production was necessary for enveloped viruses to make copies of themselves.

They found that treatment with TOFA, an ACC inhibitor, led to a more than thousand-fold reduction in HCMV replication, while C75, an inhibitor of FAS, resulted in a more than 100-fold reduction.

Does cancer or any other disease run in your family? Then get with this 3-step program.

Step 1: Eat right. That means a plant-based diet like this:

Getting Off the Cow
Reducing the amount of red meat in your diet can be easy with these tips.

Cutting back on red meat makes good health sense and makes your RealAge younger. Studies show that eating too much red meat can increase your risk of many chronic health conditions. But what kind of nutrition hole is created when you limit red meat in your diet? The truth is, it’s easy to miss out on important nutrients when you cut back on a major food source. So, when you cut back on red meat, make a balanced eating plan to help ensure you don’t shortchange yourself on important nutrients such as protein, vitamins B12 and D, calcium, iron, and zinc.

Step 2: Walk on. Clock at least 30 minutes a day. Here’s an easy way to get started.

Walking Off Fat — Fast!

How the simple act of walking can get your waist where you want it — and quickly

Saying you’re too heavy to exercise is like saying you’re too skinny to eat. Your body needs exercise just the way your body needs food. And walking may be one of the best-kept secrets of weight loss. Many people who have succeeded in losing a lot say that walking every day was a key factor.

No matter how overweight you are, you can do something to start the process of losing fat, strengthening your bones, and relieving your joints of the load that they’re carrying. Just follow our six steps to the perfect walking program, and you’ll be walking off the fat in no time.

Step 3: Decompress. Spend 60 minutes a day destressing. And weekly talk therapy may be key, too. Here’s how to decompress:

1. ID the source of your stress. Some sources of stress are easy to point the finger at, but are they really what’s bothering you? Lashing out at your kids, for example, may be a reaction not to what your kids just did but to an extra assignment piled on at work. The first step to managing stress: pinpointing the true culprit.

2. Focus on the moment. Being mindful — really paying attention to the present, not the past or the future — can help you manage stress. Spend some time every day noticing the things most people tend to ignore — like breathing, bodily sensations, and emotions.

3. Look after your health. Stress is much more manageable when the other aspects of your life — from general health to sleep patterns to eating habits — are in good order. When you don’t get enough sleep, for instance, your body produces more stress hormones, making you more vulnerable to the damaging effects of stress. Evaluate what areas in your life need attention, and work on fixes.

4. Do a Workout. Or walk for 30 minutes, stretch, do yoga — just get up and move! Exercise is one of life’s greatest stress relievers. Try it.

5. Do the opposite. Every emotion has an “urge to act” that goes with it. When we feel afraid or anxious, we avoid things; when we’re depressed or sad, we withdraw; when we’re angry, we’re tempted to lash out or yell. Unfortunately, each of these behaviors actually makes things worse. But if you can do the opposite action, you may make things better. Worried about something? Tackle it instead of ignoring it. Angry at someone? Don’t lash out, be empathetic. Depressed? Go out rather than shutting yourself in.

6. Focus on your muscles. By tensing and relaxing your muscles, you can help relieve some of the physical stress that’s stored in your body. Start at the bottom: Tense the muscles of your feet and then relax them. Tense and relax the different muscle groups of your body one at a time — your legs, stomach, back, neck, arms, face, and head. And breathe.

Taking more exercise and eating the right foods may help increase levels of an enzyme vital for guarding against age-related cell damage, work suggests.

Among 24 men asked to adopt healthy lifestyle changes for a US study in The Lancet Oncology, levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Telomerase repairs and lengthens telomeres, which cap and protect the ends of chromosomes housing DNA.

As people age, telomeres shorten and cells become more susceptible to dying.

It is the damage and death of cells that causes ageing and disease in people.

Several factors such as smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle are associated with shorter-than-average telomeres.

Professor Dean Ornish, from the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, and his team wanted to find out if improvements in diet and lifestyle might have the opposite effect.

They asked 30 men, all with low-risk prostate cancers, to take part in a three-month trial of comprehensive lifestyle changes.

These consisted of a diet high in fruit and vegetables, supplements of vitamins and fish oils, an exercise regimen and classes in stress management, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises.

Telomerase activity was measured at the beginning of the trial and again at the end.

Among the 24 men who had sufficient data for analysis, blood levels of telomerase increased by 29% on average.

Increases in telomerase activity were linked with decreases in “bad” LDL cholesterol and decreases in one measure of stress - intrusive thoughts.

The researchers say it is too early to tell if the boost in telomerase levels will translate to a change in telomere length.

But there is evidence to suggest that telomere shortness and low telomerase activity might be important risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease.

“This might be a powerful motivator for many people to beneficially change their diet and lifestyle,” they told The Lancet Oncology.

Professor Tim Spector, from King’s College London, who has been researching ageing and telomeres, said: “This work builds on what we already know.

Know all those hours you spend chatting on your cell? Turns out they might do you some good.

That is, if you use them to chat with a weight loss buddy. Supportive phone conversations help people stick to a diet better.

The iPhone Diet
In a study, overweight people who had lost about 18 pounds each as part of a weight loss program were followed to see how long they kept the weight off. And people who spent time each month talking on the phone with a supportive pal did the best job. Seems there’s nothing like a little personal contact and some positive human reinforcement to help you resist those daily temptations. Regularly logging on to a Web-based diet and exercise program can help you stay on track, too.

More Gone-for-Good Approaches
Keeping lost weight off is one of the most challenging parts of weight loss. Here are a few more tricks to make lost pounds stay gone:

Eat breakfast. Besides giving you energy, a morning meal gets your metabolism going.

Stay off the couch. People who have lost weight may need to exercise more than the average person to stay slim. But it doesn’t have to be hard.

Choose foods with healthy fats, such as avocados, nuts, olives, and fish.

Why You’re Hungry After Some Meals: Blame This Fat
That fatty bacon cheeseburger may be loaded with calories, but at least it stomps out your hunger. Right?

Not necessarily. Compared to low-fat meals with the same number of calories, meals that are basically fat fiestas do an odd thing: The saturated fats in them make your body release less leptin, a hormone designed to turn off appetite. Saturated fats are the belly-bulgers and artery-agers found in fats that come from four-legged sources: high-fat red meats, butter, full-fat cheeses, and other whole-milk products. (Trans fats are just as bad, by the way.) Sat fats are rarely found in plant foods, with two vital exceptions: palm and coconut oils.

To help your body release leptin — which is stored in fat cells (see? you knew they were good for something) — you need to eat healthful unsaturated fats. Find them in nuts (especially walnuts), seeds, olives, avocados, most vegetable oils (especially canola), many fish, and even algae (or DHA omega-3 supplements made from algae). You don’t want to avoid fat altogether: You need it to maintain your energy, absorb certain nutrients, and repair tissue. And moderate amounts of healthy fat are associated with a decreased risk of heart disease.

You also want to help leptin do its #1 job: telling you, “You’re not hungry any more.” So in addition to avoiding sat fat, adopt these waist protectors:

· Watch your alcohol intake. It inhibits leptin, even as it disinhibits dancing on the table or phoning your ex.

· Walk 30 minutes every day, and build a little muscle. Sometimes, leptin doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to, and your cells stop responding to its messages. When you trim down, your cells become more sensitive to leptin again.

Overweight employees for the State of Alabama may see an increase in their monthly health insurance premiums if they don’t shed some pounds

Starting in 2009, state workers for Alabama will be required to have a variety of medical screenings, including a Body Mass Index measurement. Those who are found to be obese will be given a year to lose weight, at which time those who are still obese will be required to pay an extra $25 a month extra for their health insurance.

Critics call the plan a “fat tax.” In a WebMD article, however, Deborah Unger, clinical director for the Alabama State Employees Insurance Board in Montgomery, said, “As long as you are aware and are doing something to correct it, there won’t be a fee. We either do something to control claims costs or you pay the premium anyway.” According to the Centers for Disease Control, Alabama currently has the second highest rate of obesity in the nation.

The culture of Alabama and the South make it difficult to eat a healthy diet, according to an editorial in the Miami Herald. “Everything is fried there, from grits to okra to mouth-watering chicken—and tea comes presweetened. This kind of food is fat-inducing, and it takes an iron will just to resist.”

Further, the paper also points out that obesity problems can be genetic. And people who aren’t overweight can have conditions associated with obesity, such as diabetes and high cholesterol. “If the concern is about poor health, why not focus on health issues instead of weight?” the paper asks.

“The obesity crisis is getting worse,” says Huffington Post blogger Jeffrey Levi. While health care reform often focuses on access to care and quality of care, Levi argues that “we’ve neglected to put a priority on preventing people from getting sick in the first place.”

How do you feel about this issue?

Check out Earthly Garden to find out about Japanese Maples.

Curls and sit-ups can definitely help tone your abs, but a new study suggests something else might work better.

Seems counterintuitive, but working your upper body may be the quickest path to a really sculpted middle.

Above-the-Belt Action
In a study, women did isometric exercises for their stomach, back, shoulders, and arms while researchers measured muscle activity. The results? Shoulder extensions made middle-body muscles contract most — apparently they work extra hard to stabilize your trunk when your wings are flapping.

Full-Body Fitness
Some more ways to get your midsection — and whole body — into mint condition:
Roll out the ball. For strong core muscles and better balance, do tummy and back toners on an exercise ball.

Add resistance. Use weights or resistance bands for extra burn.

The benefits of sneaking in some extra calorie burning are enormous. In a recent study, seniors who exercised in their leisure time were 25% less likely to die of any cause during a 12-year period. With a little creativity, you can make exercise part of your routine no matter how long your to-do list is.

You can use this simple 2-step plan to sneak some calorie-burning intensity into most of the activities that dominate the typical list of household chores.

Step 1: Add intensity
The key to turning any household task into exercise is to pick up the pace or intensity and sustain it for as long as comfortably possible without resting.

Step 2: Get creative
Some activities already require a high level of energy, such as Top 10 household chores for burning calories*

Chore Calories
1. Moving furniture 225
2. Scrubbing floors 189
3. Raking leaves 171
4. Gardening 162
5. Mowing the lawn 162
6. Washing the car 153
7. Cleaning windows 153
8. Vacuuming 84
9. Washing dishes 76
10. Doing laundry 72

* Estimations based on a 150-pound person and 30 minutes of activity

weeding the garden or raking the lawn. Turning up the burn on some other, less intense activities, such as washing dishes or dusting, may require you to be a little more creative.

Find out how you can work for Diddy.

So you grabbed a bag of chips, and a short while later, you were down to the crumbs. How’d that happen?

While you’re figuring that out, here’s how you can stop it from happening again: Practice mindful eating. There’s a growing army of slim people singing this savor-the-moment practice.

Your Mantra:
Relax, Focus
To teach yourself how to eat mindfully, start with a raisin. Take a deep, relaxing breath as you pick it up. Look at it for a few seconds. Smell it. Place it in your mouth and roll it around on your tongue. Feel the wrinkles. Now bite. Note the chewy, gritty texture — the sweet, fruity, astringent taste. Extract all the flavor before you swallow. That’s kind of the idea with mindful eating — to savor the look, smell, texture, and taste of every bite. And it works! It had a huge impact on curbing chronic binge eating in a recent study.

A Few More Ways to Eat Less
While you focus on every bite, give these other appetite-control tips a try, too:

Eat more. Yep, you heard right.

Think “mini meal.”

Drink a glass (or two) of water. It could be all you need to satisfy a craving.

Don’t hide it. People who see the evidence left over from a snack or meal — like candy wrappers or chicken bones — don’t eat as much.

The Six-Meal Diversity Deal

Are you still stuck in the three-meals-a-day mind-set? Many people get hung up on the misconception that eating anything beyond their allotted three meals per day constitutes a failure of dietary willpower.

Although it’s true that eating empty-calorie snack foods between meals is no recipe for health, limiting yourself to the traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner feeding format may not be doing you any favors either.

Forget between-meal snacking. Forget three squares a day. Your new recipe for healthy eating: six is better than three.

It sounds like a contradiction, but with a focus on diversity and proper portion size, eating six mini meals per day instead of three larger meals can help you feel fuller, eat a more varied diet, and be healthier overall.

Browse wii Rally

It’s a given: Life is going to hand you a certain number of days so crazed that high-speed takeout seems like the only dinner option.

The hitch? The only people who know less than restaurant chefs when it comes to portion control are the stressed-out and starving. (You know the feeling: You deserve to supersize something after the day you’ve had.)

The fix? Stock your freezer with healthy versions of your fave takeout treats — ones that are delicious enough to keep you driving right past the fast-food palace. Honest, they exist. Just check this list, tested by a bunch of tough-to-please tasters.

PIZZA: Lean Cuisine Brick Oven Style Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza
Here’s a great way to soothe pizza cravings without worrying about the two-slice cutoff! The flatbread crust is topped with creamy garlic sauce, chicken, and cheese. And it crisps up perfectly in the microwave.

ENCHILADAS: Amy’s Light in Sodium Black Bean and Vegetable Enchiladas
Dig into two corn tortillas filled with black beans, corn, zucchini, tofu, and bell peppers, all covered in mild enchilada sauce. Note that there’s a low-sodium version of this meal: 380 milligrams versus 780 milligrams in the regular version. Smart. High-salt hits are hard to avoid in most frozen food, so take advantage.

BURRITO: Cedarlane Low Fat Beans, Rice & Cheese Style Burrito
This almost sounds too healthful to be fun, but even our burrito junkies loved this dish of pinto beans, soy cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and organic brown rice wrapped in a warm wheat tortilla. For extra zing, top it off with your favorite salsa.

PANINI: Lean Cuisine Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Panini
Okay, it’s not quite the same as the corner bistro’s, but a little perspective here: Eating just half of Panera Bread’s Frontega Chicken Panini would cost you 400 calories, 16 grams of fat, and 1080 milligrams of sodium! This is faster, cheaper, much healthier, and surprisingly satisfying.

THAI NOODLES: Seeds of Change Spicy Thai Peanut Noodles
You don’t have to be a nutritionist to figure out that large servings of noodles drenched in peanut sauce are hazardous to your waist. Not these. The linguini is made with healthy semolina wheat flour, and there’s plenty of zippy ginger-peanut sauce flavoring the noodles, veggies, and tofu (done just right — nice and firm).

RAVIOLI: Lean Cuisine Butternut Squash Ravioli
This indulgent-tasting dish features pillowy squash ravioli with a creamy pumpkin-like filling, surrounded by yellow and orange carrots, snap peas, and chopped walnuts, all covered with a light cream sauce. Bonus: It gives you almost all the vitamin A you need for the whole day.

MAC ‘N’ CHEESE: Smart Ones Three Cheese Macaroni
Every now and then, you need a taste of your favorite childhood dish. If mac and cheese is yours, this one will soothe your inner 5-year-old’s needs for just 300 warm, creamy calories.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT: Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken
A delicious bowl of tender snow peas, carrots, broccoli, and grilled chicken breast on a bed of seven whole grains that are flavored with a lemongrass-coconut sauce — this meal smells almost as good as it tastes.

Encouraging Health has more weight loss tips and hints.

Found this healthy grocery list that helps you eat food that is better for you:

If we all spent as much time reading nutrition labels as experts tell us to, supermarkets would have to start installing more cushy chairs and coffee bars than Barnes & Noble. Which may be what inspired two gods of healthy eating — Harvard’s legendary nutrition guru, Walter Willett, MD, and Mollie Katzen, authors of the groundbreaking Moosewood Cookbook — to name names in their latest book, Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less.

The book lists brands for the foods that make grocery shoppers crazy: Either you choose from products where there are so many options (e.g., bread, cereal) that you just want to throw in the towel — especially if your shopping cart is loaded with kids as well as cartons — or you choose from products that sound healthy but often are sugar and calorie extravaganzas (e.g., many energy bars, tricked-up yogurts).

In the words of Willett and Katzen, “Bring your glasses when shopping for breads, crackers, bars, yogurt, smoothies, and even veggie burgers — the calorie counts and nutritional profiles of these items can vary wildly.” Or bring this handy list of the healthiest brands. Although they name more brands in the book, we’ve done the legwork for you and picked out the most widely available. If it’s on this list, consider it blessed.

Bread
Pepperidge Farm sliced bread
100% Whole Wheat Very Thin Sliced
Carb Style, Soft 100% Whole Wheat
100% Natural Nine Grain
Country Hearth Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat sliced bread
Thomas’ English Muffins Hearty Grain 100% Whole Wheat
Roman Meal Multi-Grain Hamburger Buns

Cereal
Wheaties
Total Whole Grain
Kashi GoLean
Old Fashioned Quaker Oats
Wheatena

Crackers
Wheat Thins, Multi-Grain
Triscuit Thin Crisps

Yogurt
Dannon Light & Fit (regular, Carb Control, and Creamy)
Stonyfield Farm MOOve Over Sugar
Yoplait Light

Smoothies
Stonyfield Farm Light Smoothie
Yoplait Smoothie Light
Dannon Light & Fit Smoothie

Protein Bars
PowerBar Pria Complete Nutrition bar
Luna bars
Kashi GoLean Crunchy! bar and Roll! bar

Veggie Burgers
Boca
Original
All American Flame Grilled
Grilled Vegetable
Roasted Onion
Roasted Garlic
Gardenburger
The Original
Sun-Dried Tomato Basil
Veggie Medley
Black Bean Chipotle
Morningstar Farms Garden Veggie Patties

Browse around the 451 press network for more tips and articles on living a healthy lifestyle.

healthy foods, grocery list, groceries

healthy foods, grocery list, groceries