What is it? Monofin swimming has been making waves in fitness since the 1970s. This one is for all speed fiends and fans of boardsports. As its name suggests, this aquatic sport involves a single flipper for both legs.
How? Monofin swimming needs to be taught. Sessions are structured in two halves:
• They begin with 45 minutes of warm-ups, specifically designed for this sport, on the ground. This is all about strengthening muscle through concentrating on legs, bums and tums.
• The rest of the session gets you in the water with traditional flippers in order to train your legs, then you’ll trade these for a monofin. Feeling like a mermaid is guaranteed, except it’ll be a physical experience as well.
Essentially, this sport works on your buttocks, abdomen and lumbar vertebrae. Legs are the star of the show as your arms do very little and are held up with hands pressed together.
Objective: wiggling your body to create a sinusoidal wave.
The movements: With each wave of the flipper, pull your stomach in and try to lengthen your body. Engaging the abdominal muscles and getting a corseting effect is very simple: just try to flatten your navel against your spinal column. This muscle strengthening exercise is highly effective.
The Fit to Flex
What is it? This is a fun and playful new fitness activity co-created by Reebok and Cirque du Soleil, using the Jukari Band, a new generation of resistance bands.
How? The exercise class has been designed around dynamic exercises based on fluid movements with the Jukari Band with the aim of creating a visual display. And the star of the show? You! A graceful circus acrobat with the resistance band which revolutionises the old exercise band of our tums and bums classes. Each position will reinforce your shoulder span and abdomen, tone your oblique muscles and improve your pelvic mobility in turn, all in a very elegant way (once you’ve mastered the Jukari band). This is ideal for lengthening and sculpting your figure, while being really creative too. The class is like being in circus school! Everything is fluid in this type of exercise, including the duration of the class which lasts between 30 minutes and an hour.
Learn more at http://www.reebok.com/US/womens/fittoflex
Aqua Jogging
What is it? A new aquatic activity which you carry out on a treadmill in a swimming pool. For a perfectly toned body, you mix fast walking and running whilst in the water.
How? Immersed half way up your chest in the pool, you explore different exercise combinations on a treadmill. Up until now, there is nothing new, except that the treadmill mentioned is made up of 308 rotating cylinders. This little detail is not insignificant. Their rotation responds to the power of your pins and the determination of your stride, taking into account water resistance, another thing which will sculpt your body.
In a pool heated to 30 to 32°C, the class involves running or gliding exercises, based on the movement of a ski sidestep. How is it different to a treadmill in a room? You get the benefits of hydromassage. The resistance of the water makes the exercise more difficult and exerts a strong draining pressure for a slimming effect.
Ultimately, you tone up your buttocks, sculpt your legs, develop your endurance or simply burn off calories. The classes last around 40 minutes, involving a very targeted cycle of training.
Where? In aquatic sports centres, Ragdale Hall health spa or visit aquagym.co.uk to find local gyms.
Les Mills TRX training
What is it? Invented in 2003 by a commando in the US Navy in order to keep his team fighting fit during missions, this style of “suspended” exercise forms part of an intense style of physical training.
How? TRX is based on the idea of a dynamic workout, and combines the effort involved in supporting your body weight with using the resistance of handles suspended above you. This technique, borrowed from the commandos, enables you to work effectively on muscle groups by using only your body weight, without any additional weights. Deep muscles are also engaged, thanks to the action of gravity on the body. A no brainer, and at no cost, this exercise is unique in its simplicity!
Note: To vary the resistance and difficulty of the exercises, all you have to do is change the angle of your body. On the other hand, if you don’t engage your neurones in this way, you will still be stretching your endurance to the maximum! Perfect for a Marines’ training exercise
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/fitness-revolution-perfect-summer-body-114051375.html
The not-so-new Nordic Diet
What everyone is now calling the New Nordic Diet is in fact the same regime as the one designed as part of a Danish research project called OPUS. Its aim was to observe the effects of Scandinavian eating on the health, development and wellbeing of Danish school children.
This diet is not so new as it is based on the traditional diet of Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) which principally consists of food stuffs originating in Scandinavia.
This cuisine is known for being healthy, as well as being good for general wellbeing, environmentally sound and in line with the principles of sustainable agriculture.The Nordic Diet is not a diet regime in the sense of a slimming plan. It is more a different way of eating, a lifestyle choice.
The ten commandments of the New Nordic Diet
To live better and longer, and rediscover or maintain your figure, follow these ten rules which form the basis of the Scandinavian diet:
More fruit, vegetables and berries
More wholegrain (especially flour, rye and barley)
More seafood (fish, shellfish and seaweed)
Less meat and better quality
More foods produced in the wild
Organic produce as often as possible
Avoid additives
Eat seasonal produce
Try and cook most meals at home
Limit waste
Key foods in the Nordic Diet
The Viking Diet is mostly made up of Scandinavian produce. But it isn’t that hard to find these items in your supermarket and adapt your recipes to suit.
Seasonal fruits and berries (prunes, rose hips, pears, blueberries, blackberries and blackcurrants)
Vegetables, including root vegetables (radishes, beetroot)
Pulses (peas)
Herbs (parsley, cress, dill)
Mushrooms
Wholegrain
Nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts)
Fish and shellfish (herring, mussels, shrimp and flounder)
Seaweed
Game
Meat (preferably free range)
Fish dishes
Fish (herring, shrimp...) is at the heart of Nordic cuisine, and yet, the way fish is cultivated for commercial purposes is responsible for certain levels of pollution (notably mercury). The question of toxicity is therefore an issue.
What should you do to make sure your diet doesn’t become a danger to your health? By consuming 300g of fish a week and paying attention to where your fish comes from and how it was cultivated. “Mercury becomes a particular problem when you eat big, old or carnivorous fish” explains Claude Mona, from the University of Copenhagen.
In fact, you should be varying the types of fish you eat (oily fish, white fish or between the two), since the supply of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids varies between species.
An environmentally responsible cuisine
The Nordic Diet encourages us to eat in a more responsible way. In fact, its precepts are based on the idea of local produce, food that is in season and maximum use of organic products. This way of living and eating should encourage producers to use more considered methods of cultivation.
Homemade Food
With the Nordic Diet, the oven takes centre stage. Far from boycotting commercial food products, this style of eating just encourages you to cook more and limit the number of pre-prepared dishes you buy.
The best way of being sure of what is going on your plate, is to cook it yourself! This is where it becomes important to cook and prepare fresh, local produce.
Live better and longer with the Nordic Diet
A study was carried out over twelve months on 57,053 Danish volunteers aged from 50 to 64. The objective was to establish a nutritional index for the health benefits of the Scandinavian diet. The conclusions confirmed the initial hypothesis, and the study proved that a diet modelled on the Nordic style of eating was linked to a decrease in mortality rate for average-aged Danes, especially for men. The basic diet observed during the course of this study was composed of fish, cabbage, rye bread, flour, apples and pears, and root vegetables (beetroot).
Extract from the study “Healthy Aspects of the Nordic Diet Are Related to Lower Total Mortality”, available online here.
Slimming down with the Nordic Diet
You shouldn’t pin all your hopes on the Nordic Diet for a spectacular weight loss in just a few days. It is not about a miracle diet, but a balanced and varied way of eating which you can adopt in your daily life. Your figure will feel the effects of this improved diet, but over the long term.
Claude Mona, from Arne Astrup’s office in Copenhagen where he is working on the project OPUS, explains that “the first provisional results suggest that the New Nordic Diet will help with weight loss. These initial findings indicate more considerable weight loss among volunteers who followed the New Nordic Diet when compared to those continuing with their normal diet.” The results on the effects of the New Nordic Diet on obesity will not be revealed officially until the end of the study in 2013.
http://uk.lifestyle.yahoo.com/8-key-aspects-viking-diet-114050946.html
Australian scientists believe they have cracked the problem of egg white allergies with ground-breaking new research.
Researchers from Deakin University in Geelong believe they can "switch off" the allergens in eggs that can lead to potentially fatal anaphylactic shock in thousands of children.
The team is working on isolating the four main allergens found in egg whites, then reintroducing the protein back into the egg, which should subsequently produce chickens that lay allergy-free eggs.
Producing hypoallergenic eggs would provide relief to thousands of parents, Professor Cenk Suphioglu, a Deakin University Associate, said.
"There is evidence that new parents are exposing their infants to egg products for the first time in the car parks of major children's hospitals just so they are close to medical attention," Suphioglu said.
Professor Tim Doran, who is leading the three-year research project, said, "We are not producing genetically modified chickens as part of this research. We are simply modifying the proteins within the egg whites to produce chickens which lay allergy-free eggs."
The team hopes that the allergy-free eggs will hit stores in five to 10 years
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/13/experts-work-on-cracking-egg-white-allergy/#ixzz1p4a0AloI
Everyday you have to navigate a toxic nutritional landscape. You have to hunt and gather in a food desert. You have to survive the American supermarket and dodge the dangers of industrial food. The good news is that if you follow ten simple rules you can eat safely for life.
Think of them as shortcuts or tricks to use when shopping or eating. If you just do these things and nothing else, you will automatically be eating real, fresh food that will prevent, treat and even reverse most of the chronic diseases that drain our energy, stress our families and deplete our economy. You don’t even have to understand anything about nutrition. Just follow these goof proof rules for getting healthy, losing weight and feeling great.
1. Ideally have only food without labels in your kitchen or foods that don’t come in a box, a package, or a can. There are labeled foods that are great, like sardines, artichoke hearts, or roasted red peppers, but you have to be very smart in reading the labels. There are two things to look for: the ingredient list and the nutrition facts. Check out my special report on How to Read Labels for more information.
Where is the primary ingredient on the list? If the real food is at the end of the list and the sugar or salt is at the beginning, beware. The most abundant ingredient is listed first and the others are listed in descending order by weight. Be conscious, too, of ingredients that may not be on the list; some ingredients may be exempt from labels. This is often true if the food is in a very small package, if it has been prepared in the store, or if it has been made by a small manufacturer. Beware of these foods.
2. If a food has a label it should have fewer than five ingredients. If it has more than five ingredients, throw it out. Also beware of food with health claims on the label. They are usually bad for you – think ”sports beverages.” I recently saw a bag of deep-fried potato chips with the health claims “gluten-free, organic, no artificial ingredients, no sugar” and with fewer than 5 ingredients listed. Sounds great, right? But remember, cola is 100 percent fat-free and that doesn’t make it a health food.
3. If sugar (by any name, including organic cane juice, honey, agave, maple syrup, cane syrup, or molasses) is on the label, throw it out. There may be up to 33 teaspoons of sugar in the average bottle of ketchup. Same goes for white rice and white flour, which act just like sugar in the body. If you have diabesity – the spectrum of metabolic imbalances starting with just a little belly fat, leading all the way to diabetes— you can’t easily handle any flour, even whole-grain. Throw it out.
4. Throw out any food with high-fructose corn syrup on the label. It is a super sweet liquid sugar that takes no energy for the body to process. Some high-fructose corn syrup also contains mercury as a by-product of the manufacturing process. Many liquid calories, such as sodas, juices, and “sports” drinks, contain this metabolic poison. It always signals low quality or processed food.
5. Throw out any food with the word hydrogenated on the label. This is an indicator of trans fats, vegetable oils converted through a chemical process into margarine or shortening. They are good for keeping cookies on the shelf for long periods of time without going stale, but these fats have been proven to cause heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. New York City and most European counties have banned trans fats, and you should, too.
6. Throw out any highly refined cooking oils such as corn, soy, etc. (I will explain which oils to buy in Week 1 of the program in my book The Blood Sugar Solution). Also avoid toxic fats and fried foods.
7. Throw out any food with ingredients you can’t recognize, pronounce, or that are in Latin.
8. Throw out any foods with preservatives, additives, coloring or dyes, “natural flavorings,” or flavor enhancers such as MSG (monosodium glutamate).
9. Throw out food with artificial sweeteners of all kinds (aspartame, Splenda, sucralose, and sugar alcohols—any word that ends with “ol” like xylitol, sorbitol). They make you hungrier, slow your metabolism, give you bad gas, and make you store belly fat.
10. If it came from the earth or a farmer’s field, not a food chemist’s lab, it’s safe to eat. As Michael Pollan says, if it was grown on a plant, not made in a plant, then you can keep it in your kitchen. If it is something your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food, throw it out (like a “lunchable” or go-gurt”). Stay away from “food-like substances.”
That’s it – just ten simple goof proof rules for staying healthy for life. It is a simple recipe for staying out of trouble and automatically leads you to a real, whole foods diet. And the side effect will be weight loss, energy, reduction in the need for medication and saving our nation from the tsunami of chronic disease and Pharmageddon!
When you make these simple choices you will not only improve your health, and your family’s health, but you will create a “wellness spring” that will shift the demand in the marketplace. You will not only take back your health, but also help America take back its health. You vote three times a day with your fork and it impacts our health, how we grow food, energy consumption, climate change and environmental degradation. You have more power than you think. Use it!
My personal hope is that together we can create a national conversation about a real, practical solution for the prevention, treatment, and reversal of our obesity, diabetes and chronic disease epidemic.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/03/08/10-rules-to-eat-safely-for-life/#ixzz1obDfPGTi
By Dave Zinczenko
Men's Health
Rarely does a complicated problem have a simple answer. And for America’s 36 percent national obesity rate, the answer is sandwiched between nutritional obfuscation from the people who sell food and the bad diet habits of those of us who eat it. So in Eat This, Not That! 2012, I took a hard look at the eating habits of America. Here I present to you the surprising reasons you gain weight, plus examples of the restaurant meals that encourage the bad habits.
Reason #1: Eating a Carb-Heavy Breakfast
Perkins Berry Blueberry Pancakes: 1,140 calories, 29 g fat (12 g saturated), 2,150 mg sodium, 200 g carbohydrate, 110 g sugars, 20 g protein
Sugar equivalent: 7 Klondike ice cream sandwiches!
Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that meals that limited carbohydrates to 43 percent were more filling and had a milder effect on blood sugar than meals with 55 percent carbohydrates.
With that in mind, this pancake platter is 70 percent carbs—a full 800 calories worth—making it a dangerous way to start your day. The best breakfast is one heavy on protein, and eggs make that incredibly easy. In one study published in The International Journal of Obesity, dieters who ate eggs instead of bagels for breakfast lost 65% more weight and a 34% greater reduction in waist circumference.
Eat This Instead!
Perkins Build-Your-Own-Omelette with Swiss Cheese, Bacon, Mushrooms, and Spinach: 430 calories, 29 g fat (13.5 g saturated), 530 mg sodium, 8 g carbohydrate, 1 g sugars, 35 g protein
Feel-good fuel: Food is powerful, and the wrong kind can leave you depressed, tired, and anxious. Instead, instantly brighten your day with these 11 Foods That End Bad Moods.
Reason #2: Eating Excessive Amounts of Sodium
P.F. Chang’s Pork Double Pan Fried Noodles: 1,652 calories, 84 g fat (12 g saturated), 7,900 mg sodium
Sodium equvalent: Nearly 9 cans of Pringles potato crisps!
Forget bloating and parchedness—these salt-soaked noodles pose a larger threat. Salt has been shown to produce an addictive effect similar to that of opiates. Researchers in Florida found that when opiate-dependent subjects went off a drug, they increased their intake of sodium-rich foods, ostensibly to stimulate those same opiate receptors in the brain. Salt, say the researchers, often “feels good” rather than “tastes good.” The subjects in the study, during opiate withdrawal, saw an average weight gain of 6.6 percent. Protect yourself by swearing off The 8 NEW Saltiest Foods in America.
Eat This Instead!
P.F. Chang’s Garlic Noodles: 712 calories, 16 g fat (4 g saturated), 1,440 mg sodium
Reason #3: Ordering foods because the name sounds healthy
IHOP Chicken & Spinach Salad: 1,600 calories, 118 g fat (32 g saturated, .5 g trans), 2,340 mg sodium
Calorie equivalent: 3 McDonald’s Big Macs!
IHOP’s egregious salad is a prime example of what researchers call the “health halo” effect. This is the psychological phenomenon in which people perceive unhealthy meals as healthy when those foods are associated with good-for-you buzzterms or foods. Words like “natural” or “multigrain” can be misleading, and any time a restaurant serves something on a salad, people automatically assume it’s good for them. The so-called health halo also makes us more likely to overeat. Restaurants like IHOP know and exploit this, which is how salads with 100+ grams of fat continue to make it onto menus.
Eat This Instead!
IHOP Take Two Combo, 1/2 Double BLT Sandwich and Seasonal Fresh Fruit: 470 calories, 28 g fat (6 g saturated), 1,180 mg sodium
Related link: Which is the superior snack: a granola bar or a chocolate pudding cup? The answer could surprise you. Find out, courtesy of The Ultimate Snack Scorecard.
Reason #4: Ordering combo meals
McDonald’s Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese Value Meal (with Large Fries and Large Coke): 1,550 calories, 67 g fat (23 g saturated, 3 g trans), 1,750 mg sodium, 95 g sugars
Fat equivalent: 17 bowls of Kraft Easy Mac!
A study in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing showed that, compared to a la carte orders, value meals pack an extra hundred calories or more. And in some cases, as seen here, that number can be much, much higher. Part of the problem is that restaurants bundle items together so that they can pawn off cheap calories, like those found in french fries. So they earn more profit, and you earn more inches on your waistline. Piece together your own meal to be sure you’re not being stuck with any freeloading fat calories.
Eat This Instead!
McDonald’s McDouble, 4-Piece Chicken McNuggets, and Large Iced Tea: 580 calories, 31 g fat (10 g saturated, 1.5 g trans), 1,290 mg sodium, 7 g sugars
Reason #5: Taking in empty calories
Dairy Queen Banana Cream Pie Blizzard (medium): 770 calories, 28 g fat (17 g saturated, 1 g trans), 83 g sugars
Sugar equivalent: 9 bowls of Cookie Crisp cereal!
Dessert calories are empty, meaning they present your body with lots of energy, but no nutritional advantage for burning it off. Sugar is the primary culprit here, and there’s a direct correlation between the amount you eat and the size of your pants. What’s most shocking is that we develop our propensity toward sugar at very young age. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, today’s kids take in about 16 percent of their daily calories from added sugars, and the main sources are soda, baked goods, cereal, candy, and fruit drinks. This primes us to gravitate toward monstrous, over-sweetened desserts—like Blizzards—later in life. When your sweet tooth strikes, think modesty. It only takes a few bites to satisfy, and if you stop there, you’ve cut hundreds of calories from your diet.
Eat This Instead!
Dairy Queen Banana Sundae (medium), 330 calories, 10 g fat (6 g saturated, 0.5 g trans), 42 g sugars
source:http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/05/10584662-5-surprising-reasons-you-gain-weight
By MyHealthNewsDaily Staff
Even a short bout of exercise can change your genes in ways that may ultimately make you stronger, a new study suggests.
The researchers studied genes in the muscles of men and women before and after they spent 20 minutes on an exercise machine.
After exercise, there were chemical changes in genes within the muscle cells, and these same genes were increased in expression. In other words, exercise helped "turn on" these genes, according to the study.
When the researchers made muscles contract in lab dishes, they saw similar changes to the DNA.
These changes appear to happen soon after exercise, which ultimately reprograms our cells for stronger muscles and greater endurance.
Our muscles adapt to what we do, said study researcher Juleen Zierath, of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. "If you don't use it, you lose it, and this is one of the mechanisms that allows that to happen," Zierath said.
For those who don't like to work up a sweat, there may be hope. When the researchers exposed muscle cells from rats to caffeine, they saw changes in genes that were similar to those seen during exercise. In some ways, caffeine mimics the effect of exercise by causing an increasing in calcium levels inside cells, the researchers said.
However, the researchers don't recommend drinking coffee in place of exercise, Zierath said.
source:http://todayhealth.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/06/10594619-just-20-minutes-of-exercise-can-change-your-genes
On YouTube, a morbidly obese 22-year-old man named Robert has posted a desperate plea for help with weight loss.
"This is my last chance, my last hope," Robert says, his voice shaking with emotion. "I'm really scared that I'm not going to be able to watch my niece and my nephew grow up, and I'm not going to get to have a family of my own.
"My birthday's tomorrow. I turn 23, and I've never had a life. ... I'm asking for somebody's help. That's all I can really say. I'm speaking from the heart."
Robert, who says he weighs "between 600 and 700 or more pounds," tearfully explains that he's tried losing weight on his own -- he's even been hospitalized as a result of his extreme heaviness -- but the weight always comes right back. He hopes the video will catch the eye of someone who can help him.
he video has now been viewed nearly one million times, and among those who've seen it and want to help is TODAY's nutritionist, Joy Bauer. She has three simple, straight-forward pieces of advice for Robert -- or for anyone else whose weight loss needs are so daunting that they don't even know where to start.
1. Start walking -- every day.
Even if it’s just to the end of your driveway and back. In the beginning, it’s not really about the distance or the calories burned -- it’s more about getting your body used to regular physical activity and feeling a sense of accomplishment. Every few days, try to increase your duration by a little bit (even if it’s only an extra minute). Gradually getting into a regular walking routine can help boost your mood and fuel your motivation to get healthy and make better food choices.
2. Cut your portions in half.
If you’re not ready for a diet overhaul, start by cutting portions of whatever you’re currently eating in half. You’ll instantly reduce your calorie, fat and sugar intake by 50 percent -- and that’s substantial. Instead of six pieces of pizza at lunch, eat 3. Instead of 4 cups of pasta at dinner, eat 2. Then, as the weight starts to come off, you can start to focus on eating better foods.
3. Wipe out liquid calories.
Cut out all sugary beverages—whether it’s soda, lemonade, sweet tea, or fruit juice. You can literally save yourself hundreds if not thousands of calories per day. And, since liquid calories don’t fill you up the same way solid food does, nixing the sugary drinks won’t even leave you feeling hungry (you’ll hardly miss them). Sip on water, unsweetened tea and coffee, and naturally flavored seltzer instead
Sitting at your desk all day, though not physically taxing, can be exhausting.
“Over time you build up tension in your muscles, and end up becoming fatigued and exhausted,” says Erik Peper, professor at the Institute for Holistic Health Studies at San Francisco State University.
In fact, some of the work habits you’ve developed, especially if you’re tied to your computer, may be draining your energy. Here’s what you can do to raise your energy level at work, and avoid that afternoon lull.
1) Take a 2-second micro-breaks. When you’re using your mouse or keyboard, you unknowingly tense your muscles, actually holding them tight, essentially not moving a muscle fiber. This tension starts to build up as body-wide fatigue. To try to relax the tension, take one to two-second micro-breaks by dropping your hands to your lap and letting your arms, shoulders and hands go limp—and relaxing your stomach, which may be clenched as well.
To remember to take micro breaks, time them to something that occurs often. For instance, take a micro-break every time you get an email or phone call, or when you’re reading on your computer don't need to click or type anything, or at the end of each sentence you type.
2) Take deep breaths. Just as you tend to clench your muscles when doing fine motor skills at the computer, you may be breathing shallowly as well, if not completely holding your breath for seconds at a time when you’re doing fine motor skills. Think about breathing deeply, with your diaphragm, rather than taking shallower breaths in your chest. Your abdomen should become bigger when you inhale and smaller when you exhale. Deep breathing tends to relax all your muscles as well.
3) Take a walk, not a coffee break. If you’re feeling an energy lull in the afternoon, rather than get a cup of coffee or a caffeinated soda, go for a 20-minute walk. Exercising increases your energy and gets rid of muscle tension. In addition, a new study on mice suggests that if you eat after exercising, your brain gets a boost of energy, lending support to the theory that exercise enhances cognitive function. A great strategy would be going for a brisk walk and then eating a low-fat snack.
4) Wiggle and squirm. Being fidgety can also energize your body and release muscle tension. You can do it without others knowing simply by moving your feet in circles, tapping your feet, shifting your weight from one buttock to the other, or gently bouncing your shoulders up and down as if your are giggling. You can download a free break-reminder program like Mindful Clock or Free-Eye Rest and Break Reminder .
5) Eat protein for breakfast. Breakfast foods—bagels, muffins or cereal—tend to be chock full of carbs, and although carbs can give you an energy boost because they are quickly converted to sugar, which is used for energy, their energy punch doesn’t last long.
For a longer boost, eat some protein with your carbs to slow the rate of digestion. Try peanut butter on toast, cream cheese on a bagel, a hard-boiled egg, yogurt, a handful of nuts or a high- protein breakfast bar.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/29/5-ways-to-boost-your-energy-at-work/#ixzz1ns3KCdUk
Relaxation, visiting a spa and having a makeover have largely been in the domain of women for a long time. Men are slowly catching up: visiting the sauna, having a massage or even getting a manicure. Nevertheless, the concepts of relaxation and wellness often mean different things to men and women.
“Wellness was long regarded as a topic for women,” says Lutz Hertel, chairman of Germany’s Wellness Association (DWV). “That’s because of the history of the wellness movement in Germany, which in its initial phase was treated like a new type of fitness.”
The “gentle form of wellness” led to the popularization of fitness gymnastics and had nothing to do with Arnold Schwarzenegger-style weightlifting. Thus women had a greater affinity with wellness.
“But in the last 10 years men have been attracted to [the idea of] wellness and are quite happy to try out a sauna, visit a gym studio or a spa hotel,” Hertel says.
A survey conducted in Germany in 2008 showed that men spent 17 minutes a day on average grooming themselves and an extra 13 minutes on caring for their faces. That time did not include taking a shower, having a bath or shaving.
“Those figures show that men have overtaken women, who spend on average 26 minutes a day on body and face care,” says Martin Ruppmann, general manager of Germany’s VKE cosmetics association.
But when it comes to relaxation, men have a different goal than women, according to Hertel.
“They want to remain energetic and young, to be fit, to look fresh and exude a manly strength,” he says.
For men it’s not the path but the goal that’s of most importance. “That means men often tend to take a much more active and performance-related approach to wellness that is far from gentle,” Hertel says.
The phenomenon can be most clearly observed in saunas. “Men like visiting the hottest saunas, sitting on the highest bench and staying as long as they can stand the heat,” according to Hertel.
That not only illustrates that visiting a sauna can be a high performance sport, but that it can also be absurd and even damage your health. “It would be better if men didn’t continually challenge themselves but had a much more tender approach,” Hertel says. “Most men need to discover the moment of enjoyment in taking exercise, going to a sauna or getting a massage.”
Naturally, not all men are like that. Many are quite prepared to leave the hard-man image aside and growing numbers are trying out cosmetic products. Figures produced by Germany’s VKE cosmetics association from 2010 indicate men are turning toward skin care products.
“Sales of men’s cosmetics are continuing to grow by 6 percent. From year to year men are developing an affinity for cosmetics and skin care products,” Hertel says.
Gabriele Haeusler, from Germany’s Association of Beauticians, confirms that trend. “Men are becoming more vain and want care products,” she says.
Men have different priorities to women when it comes to the products they choose. “Men usually don’t want to have several products,” she says. “Instead, they prefer as few as possible, or even just the one product that quickly and efficiently does the job.”
Haeusler advises men older than their mid-30s to start using care products.
“It’s at that age that the skin begins to show the influence of stress and other factors,” she says. The three most important parts of the body to watch out for are the face, the hands and the feet which usually get far less care than they actually need.
“It’s useful to apply a cleansing milk to your face in the evening and which leaves a light layer of oil on the skin. It should also clear your skin of the grime and dirt that collects over the day,” Haeusler says.
After shaving in the morning you should check to see how sensitive your skin is and then use an appropriate face cream. “In most cases a milky lotion or cream that leaves a trace of oil behind is fine,” Haeusler says. If the cream is perfumed make sure it matches your aftershave.
Men have a wide range of hand care products to choose from. “There are creams made with sea salt that leave a thin film of oil,” Haeusler says. Wheat germ or sweet almond oil are also good. “They help keep your nails and cuticles soft and smooth,” she says. Care for the feet is even easier.
“Often a callus is a problem, especially if you exercise,” Haeusler says.
Rubbing a good baby lotion with jojoba or sesame seed oil on your feet after showering will usually do the trick. DPA
source:http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/lifestyle/the-gentle-art-of-wellness-men-still-need-to-learn-to-relax/501460
While those are some of the obvious steps you can take to age well, researchers have discovered that centenarians tend to share certain traits in how they eat, move about, and deal with stress—the sorts of things we can emulate to improve our own aging process. Of course, getting to age 100 is enormously more likely if your parents did. (Recent research suggests that centenarians are 20 times as likely as the average person to have at least one long-lived relative.) Still, Thomas Perls, who studies the century-plus set at Boston University School of Medicine, believes that assuming you've sidestepped genes for truly fatal diseases like Huntington's, "there's nothing stopping you from living independently well into your 90s." Heck, if your parents and grandparents were heavy smokers, they might have died prematurely without ever reaching their true potential lifespan, so go ahead and shoot for those triple digits. Follow these 12 habits and check out Perls' lifetime risk calculator to see how long you can expect to live.
1. Don't retire. "Evidence shows that in societies where people stop working abruptly, the incidence of obesity and chronic disease skyrockets after retirement," says Luigi Ferrucci, director of the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. The Chianti region of Italy, which has a high percentage of centenarians, has a different take on leisure time. "After people retire from their jobs, they spend most of the day working on their little farm, cultivating grapes or vegetables," he says. "They're never really inactive." Farming isn't for you? Volunteer as a docent at your local art museum or join the Experience Corps, a program offered in 19 cities that places senior volunteers in urban public elementary schools for about 15 hours a week.
2. Floss every day. That may help keep your arteries healthy. A 2008 New York University study showed that daily flossing reduced the amount of gum-disease-causing bacteria in the mouth. This bacteria is thought to enter the bloodstream and trigger inflammation in the arteries, a major risk factor for heart disease. Other research has shown that those who have high amounts of bacteria in their mouth are more likely to have thickening in their arteries, another sign of heart disease. "I really do think people should floss twice a day to get the biggest life expectancy benefits," says Perls.
[Cancer and Age: Why We May Face a Tradeoff Between Cancer Risk and Aging]
3. Move around. "Exercise is the only real fountain of youth that exists," says Jay Olshansky, a professor of medicine and aging researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's like the oil and lube job for your car. You don't have to do it, but your car will definitely run better." Study after study has documented the benefits of exercise to improve your mood, mental acuity, balance, muscle mass, and bones. "And the benefits kick in immediately after your first workout," Olshansky adds. Don't worry if you're not a gym rat. Those who see the biggest payoffs are the ones who go from doing nothing to simply walking around the neighborhood or local mall for about 30 minutes a day. Building muscle with resistance training is also ideal, but yoga classes can give you similar strength-training effects if you're not into weight lifting.
4. Eat a fiber-rich cereal for breakfast. Getting a serving of whole-grains, especially in the morning, appears to help older folks maintain stable blood sugar levels throughout the day, according to a recent study conducted by Ferrucci and his colleagues. "Those who do this have a lower incidence of diabetes, a known accelerator of aging," he says.
[Could Getting More Fiber Help You Live Longer?]
5. Get at least six hours of shut-eye. Instead of skimping on sleep to add more hours to your day, get more to add years to your life. "Sleep is one of the most important functions that our body uses to regulate and heal cells," says Ferrucci. "We've calculated that the minimum amount of sleep that older people need to get those healing REM phases is about six hours." Those who reach the century mark make sleep a top priority.
[10 Ways to Get Better Sleep (and Maybe Cure Your Insomnia)]
6. Consume whole foods, not supplements. Strong evidence suggests that people who have high blood levels of certain nutrients—selenium, beta-carotene, vitamins C and E—age much better and have a slower rate of cognitive decline. Unfortunately, there's no evidence that taking pills with these nutrients provides those antiaging benefits. "There are more than 200 different carotenoids and 200 different flavonoids in a single tomato," points out Ferrucci, "and these chemicals can all have complex interactions that foster health beyond the single nutrients we know about like lycopene or vitamin C." Avoid nutrient-lacking white foods (breads, flour, sugar) and go for all those colorful fruits and vegetables and dark whole-grain breads and cereals with their host of hidden nutrients.
[Whole Foods Diet Cookbook: How to Eat for Health and Taste]
7. Be less neurotic. It may work for Woody Allen, who infuses his worries with a healthy dose of humor, but the rest of us neurotics may want to find a new way to deal with stress. "We have a new study coming out that shows that centenarians tend not to internalize things or dwell on their troubles," says Perls. "They are great at rolling with the punches." If this inborn trait is hard to overcome, find better ways to manage when you're stressed: Yoga, exercise, meditation, tai chi, or just deep breathing for a few moments are all good. Ruminating, eating chips in front of the TV, binge drinking? Bad, very bad.
8. Live like a Seventh Day Adventist. Americans who define themselves as Seventh Day Adventists have an average life expectancy of 89, about a decade longer than the average American. One of the basic tenets of the religion is that it's important to cherish the body that's on loan from God, which means no smoking, alcohol abuse, or overindulging in sweets. Followers typically stick to a vegetarian diet based on fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts, and get plenty of exercise. They're also very focused on family and community.
[5 Common Myths About Aging]
9. Be a creature of habit. Centenarians tend to live by strict routines, says Olshansky, eating the same kind of diet and doing the same kinds of activities their whole lives. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day is another good habit to keep your body in the steady equilibrium that can be easily disrupted as you get on in years. "Your physiology becomes frailer when you get older," explains Ferrucci, "and it's harder for your body to bounce back if you, say, miss a few hours of sleep one night or drink too much alcohol." This can weaken immune defenses, leaving you more susceptible to circulating flu viruses or bacterial infections.
10. Stay connected. Having regular social contacts with friends and loved ones is key to avoiding depression, which can lead to premature death, something that's particularly prevalent in elderly widows and widowers. Some psychologists even think that one of the biggest benefits elderly folks get from exercise the strong social interactions that come from walking with a buddy or taking a group exercise class. Having a daily connection with a close friend or family member gives older folks the added benefit of having someone watch their back. "They'll tell you if they think your memory is going or if you seem more withdrawn," says Perls, "and they might push you to see a doctor before you recognize that you need to see one yourself."
11. Be conscientious. The strongest personality predictor of a long life is conscientiousness—that is, being prudent, persistent, and well organized, according to The Longevity Project, coauthored by Howard Friedman and Leslie Martin. The book describes a study that followed 1,500 children for eight decades, collecting exhaustive details about their personal histories, health, activities, beliefs, attitudes, and families. The children who were prudent and dependable lived the longest, Friedman says, likely because conscientious types are more inclined to follow doctors' orders, take the right medicines at the right doses, and undergo routine checkups. They're also likelier to report happier marriages and more satisfying work lives than their less conscientious peers.
source:http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/living-well/articles/2009/02/20/10-health-habits-that-will-help-you-live-to-100?page=3
Eating out has become a fast and easy meal time solution for many people. According to a 2005 survey conducted by Rutgers University, 38 percent of people say they eat out once a week. Sure, going out for dinner is convenient, but cooking and making time to eat meals together with your family has many benefits.
Here are five:
1. You’ll lose weight.
If you eat out, take out, or rely on fast food, those extra calories and fat in your diet can add up. Prepackaged foods from the grocery store are also a diet trap because the portion in the box isn’t necessarily the portion you should be eating, according to Jessica Crandall, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. By cooking your own meals, you fill up on fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, and complex carbohydrates—foods that are high in fiber, low in fat, and take a longer time to digest so you’ll feel more satisfied. “You have more control over what you’re consuming,” said Crandall, who is also a certified diabetes educator.
2. Your child won’t be obese.
More than one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese in America—a direct result of eating less home cooked meals. Fast food and restaurant fare rarely provide enough nutrients and fiber, plus they’re filled with saturated fat, sodium and sugar. By preparing your child’s meals, you eliminate processed foods, refined carbohydrates and sodium and increase the amount of fiber-rich foods that make up a healthy diet.
3. You’ll save money.
According to a recent study published in the Journal of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, eating fast food is actually more expensive than shopping at the supermarket. Cut costs at the grocery store by making a shopping list, planning the week’s meals, buying sale or generic brand items and selecting produce that’s in season. Plus, be sure to shop the perimeter of the store where lean meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables tend to be and avoid the center aisles which have processed foods and higher priced items.
4. Your family’s bond will be stronger.
Making a habit of having family dinners, even if it’s just three times a week can pay off, according to Dr. Les Parrott, author of The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal, and founder of LesandLeslie.com. “Sharing the family dinner hour tethers a family together because it cultivates healthier and happier kids,” he said. There will be more laughter, more appreciation for each other, more affection, and communication will increase. “Perhaps most importantly, kids who grow up with this ritual are far more likely to feel loved by their parents,” he said.
5. Your kids will have a healthy future.
It’s important to teach your kids how to prepare and cook meals, according to Crandall, who says that many of her teenage clients have no idea how to prepare a healthy meal because it’s not demonstrated to them at home. And when your kids take an active role in grocery shopping and cooking, they’re learning at an early age how to eat a nutritious diet and lead a healthy lifestyle. “I think that will help our children to not only have healthier lifestyles, but also know how to prep those meals in advance and carry on that tradition of family meals and family time,” she said.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/22/5-reasons-to-stop-eating-out/#ixzz1nBp9TQI5
Call it the alter-ego of super-sizing. Researchers infiltrated a fast-food Chinese restaurant and found up to a third of diners jumped at the offer of a half-size of the usual heaping pile of rice or noodles — even when the smaller amount cost the same.
Giant portion sizes are one of the culprits behind the epidemic of bulging waistlines, and nowhere is the portion-creep more evident than in restaurants with French fry-heavy meal deals or plates overflowing with pasta. Now scientists are tapping into the psychology of eating to find ways to trim portions without people feeling cheated — focusing on everything from the starchy sides to the color of the plates.
“The small Coke now is what used to be a large 15 years ago,” laments psychologist Janet Schwartz, a marketing professor at Tulane University who led the Chinese food study. “We should ask people what portion size they want,” instead of large being the default.
Restaurants are paying close attention, says prominent food-science researcher Brian Wansink of Cornell University. His own tests found children were satisfied with about half the fries in their Happy Meal long before McDonald’s cut back the size, and the calories, last year.
“We’ll be seeing some very creative ways of down-sizing in the next couple of years,” predicts Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think.
But let’s call it “right-sizing,” says Duke University behavioral economist Dan Ariely. Right-size suggests it’s a good portion, not a cut, he says.
Couldn’t you just get a doggie bag? Sure, if you’ve got the willpower to stop before your plate is mostly clean. Lots of research shows Americans don’t. We tend to rely on visual cues about how much food is left, shoveling it in before the stomach-to-brain signal of “hey wait, I’m getting full” can arrive.
So Schwartz and Ariely tested a different approach: Could we limit our own temptation if we focus not on the tastiest reason we visited a restaurant — the entree — but on the side dishes? After all, restaurants can pile on calorie-dense starches like rice or pasta or fries because they’re very inexpensive, filling the plate so it looks like a good deal, Schwartz says.
A popular Chinese franchise at Duke University, with a mix of students, staff and visitors to the campus hospital, allowed the researchers in at lunchtime.
In the serving line, customers pick the rice or noodles first. The standard serving is a whopping 10 ounces, about 400 calories even before ordering the entree, says Schwartz. There was no half-size option on the menu board.
In a series of experiments, servers asked 970 customers after their initial rice or noodle order: “Would you like a half-order to save 200 calories?” Those who said yes didn’t order a higher-calorie entree to compensate. Weighing leftovers showed they threw away the same amount of food as customers who refused or weren’t offered the option.
A 25-cent discount didn’t spur more takers. Nor did adding calorie labels so people could calculate for themselves, the researchers report in this month’s journal Health Affairs — concluding the up-front offer made the difference.
Anywhere from 14 percent to 33 percent chose the reduced portions, depending on the day and the mix of customers.
Even 200 fewer calories can add up over time. And other tricks can trim portions without people noticing, whether dining out or at home. Cornell’s Wansink found people served 18 percent more pasta with marinara sauce onto a red plate than a white one — and 18 percent more pasta alfredo onto a white plate.
A stark contrast “makes you think twice before you throw on another scoop,” explains Wansink. His own family bought some dark dinner plates to supplement their white ones, because people tend to overeat white starches more than veggies.
Wansink’s other research has found:
—Switching from 11-inch plates to 10-inch plates makes people take less food, and waste less food. The slightly smaller plate makes a normal serving look more satisfying.
—People think they’re drinking more from a tall skinny glass than a short wide one even if both hold the same volume, a finding Wansink says was widely adopted by bars.
—Beware if kids eat from the adult bowls. He found 6-year-olds serve themselves 44 percent more food in an 18-ounce bowl than a 12-ounce bowl.
Restaurants are starting to get the message that at least some customers want to eat more sensibly. Applebees, for example, has introduced a line of meals under 550 calories, including such things as steak.
And a National Restaurant Association survey found smaller-portion entrees, “mini-meals” for adults and kids, and bite-size desserts made a new trend list.
It’s all consumer demand, says association nutrition director Joy Dubost: More diners now are “requesting the healthier options and paying attention to their calories.”
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/14/forget-super-sizing-restaurant-eaters-will-choose-half-size-option/#ixzz1mRJsNWct
It’s hard to convince teens to do anything they don’t want to, but new research shows that when it comes to losing weight, a program that leaves parents out of the picture may help.
The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, involved 208 overweight or obese teen girls aged 12 to 17, who were living in Oregon and Washington in 2005-09. The girls were assigned either to receive usual weight-loss advice or to participate in a moderately intensive behavioral program that stressed healthy eating and exercise habits. The twist? The teens’ parents were given separate sessions about how to support their daughters in their weight-loss efforts. In contrast, most previous youth weight loss studies have offered treatment to families all together.
After six months, all of the girls were evaluated for weight and height to calculate their body mass index, or BMI; six months later, they were measured again. By the end of the yearlong interval, the teens in the behavioral program showed only slightly lower BMIs than the control group on average, but they reported having significantly better body image and had adopted healthier eating habits. Specifically, the teens in the behavior-modification program ate more meals together with their families, which previous studies have shown promotes healthier eating, ate less fast-food and consumed more fruits and vegetables.
“We purposefully set up the study not expecting people to have very dramatic and quick weight losses, but emphasizing different tools in terms of dietary changes and physical activity that we thought would be easy to include in every life, and which could be sustained over time,” says Lynn DeBar, senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research and the study’s lead author. “We suspected these would have more staying power than a more calorically focused weight management regimen.”
LIST: Fitness Tech: 10 Cool Ways to Get in Shape
Indeed, while the girls on the program didn’t lose a remarkable amount of weight, especially compared with other weight-loss regimens, DeBar says the results are still significant because they are the first to show that a teen-centered approach to weight loss can be effective. What’s more, because it did not focus on calorie-counting, the adolescent girls may have been more likely to embrace the behavior changes.
The behavioral program involved 90-min. group sessions that occurred 16 times over the study’s five-month period, during which teens met with specially trained counselors to discuss how to change their eating patterns and become more physically active by using exergames and incorporating 15 minutes of yoga daily. The girls also spoke with counselors about body image and eating disorders.
To change their eating habits, the counselors emphasized decreasing portion sizes and advised the teens on eating fewer high-calorie foods and more lower-calorie options such as fruits and vegetables. They also talked to the adolescents about substituting water for sugared sodas, and the importance of eating regular meals, especially breakfast.
To encourage the teens to exercise more, the program provided yoga equipment as well as exergames such as Dance Dance Revolution, which the girls could use on their own or with friends and which researchers figured they would enjoy more than regimented sessions at a gym. The researchers advised the teens to incorporate 30 to 60 minutes of physical activity a day, five days a week.
At the start of the study and again six months later, the teens also visited their pediatricians to discuss concerns about weight. The pediatricians were trained to be more attentive to weight issues and to work collaboratively with the girls to find the best way to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
MORE: Want Your Kids to Exercise? Let Them Play Video Games!
The control group was given a packet of information on weight-loss strategies, books and online materials, as well as contacts to local resources for weight management. They also met with primary care physicians at the beginning of the study to discuss healthy lifestyle changes, but these doctors were not provided with the specialized training to address teens’ weight issues.
Overall, the behavioral program seemed to be effective in giving teens the right tools with which to maintain healthy weight over the long term. After six months, the girls in the program had reduced their sedentary TV and computer time by 5 hours and consumed 240 fewer calories per day on average, compared with the control group.
Part of the program’s success may be due to the fact that unlike specialized or clinic-based weight management programs, which are more structured and conducted over limited periods of time, this program involved the teens’ pediatricians, with whom the girls have ongoing relationships. “The idea was to see if we could have a weight loss program that involved primary care providers, since formal weight management programs are time limited, meaning people do well during the program but then lose their improvements over time,” says DeBar. “We thought that since the girls have an ongoing relationship with their pediatrician, that would allow what they are doing to be reinforced and sustained over a longer period of time.”
It did, and giving the adolescent girls more autonomy over their weight loss options, without directly involving Mom and Dad, also helped. Still, there is a limit to how much control teens should be allowed to have over their diets, since studies also show that when parents are more involved in helping children decide what to eat — particularly by adopting the same diet and exercise changes that their children do — youngsters are more likely to learn and maintain healthier eating habits.
Alice Park is a writer at TIME. Find her on Twitter at @aliceparkny. You can also continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/13/do-teen-weight-loss-programs-work-better-without-mom-or-dad/#ixzz1mRJT9YRJ
Are you feeling stuck in a workout rut? Or not seeing the pounds shed as fast as you would like? A full fitness and wellness assessment may be your answer for pinpointing ways to reach your goals. If you have plans for self improvement, it is helpful to know what you are starting with.
A series of tests, lifestyle questions, measurements and movements are part of an advanced technique to help individuals get in shape the healthy way. Foxnews.com literally ran the gamut to show how to achieve optimal fitness safely, intelligently and effectively with comprehensive knowledge of how the body functions.
NYC’s Equinox’s Tier 4 personal training program is a preventive care program that first analyzes your current state of being compared to goals you would like to achieve, and from there creates a manageable plan for self improvement.
Metabolic Rate
First step, a metabolic testing assessment. “The resting metabolic rate is going to give us an indication of how many calories your body uses at rest for all the functions in your body, to work right,” Rick Garrigan, T4 Coach and EFTI Master Instructor told Foxnews.com.
Garrigan points out that you want your metabolic rate as high as possible while in a fasting state. This indicates a fast metabolism. Some things that will slow your metabolism down are “skipping meals, going too long,
causing your blood glucose to fluctuate.” Garrigan said.
Other numbers crunched included blood pressure and resting heart rate.
Personal Profile Questions
The next step in creating a personal profile involved a series of questions about my family’s health history, stress levels, any orthopedic injuries, exercise history, daily nutrition, lifestyle and fitness goals.
Questions included:
“How many cups of coffee do you drink a day?”
“Does your family have a history of cancer?”
“Have you had an reoccurring injuries?”
“Are you currently taking any medications?”
“Any late night snacks?”
These questions are important because “this gives me an in depth look at where you are now, any possible medical conditions that could come up in the future as we approach you from a preventative care standpoint” Garrigan said.
Garrigan points out that as a personal trainer they aim to develop an open relationship to help with the entire management process of your health, “keeping open lines of
communication with your doctors as well.”
Body Composition
Next up, it was time to get measured and pinched. Body composition refers to the proportions of body weight in terms of lean body mass and body fat. Garrigan says it is essential to have some body fat, but excess levels pose serious risks.
Height, weight, and head to toe measurements were taken,
“to give us a baseline to see where you are before you start the program and say if you put on any muscle, how the body changes.”
Functional Movements
A functional movement screen includes 7 full body motions like a deep squat, in-line lunge, and a hurdle step. Observing how these moves are performed can help indicate any injuries, and “gives an idea of any asymmetries, any differences in your body.”
Cardiovascular Fitness Test
The same breathing mask used to gather resting metabolic rates went back on for the cardiovascular test. A heart rate monitor was also put on and it was time to run.
The aerobic fitness test gages the ability of the heart, lungs, and circulatory system to supply oxygen and nutrients to working muscles effectively. Garrigan points out that this is generally considered to be the most important fitness component.
The results award your Maximum oxygen consumption (Max VO2) level—which is a measurement of the maximum rate your body can consume and process oxygen during exercise. The higher, the better your cardio fitness.
The results of a comprehensive wellness exam indicate any potential health risk factors, yields a non-scientific “body age,” and creates a personalized plan with tips for meeting your goals. Often, these assessments are continued at various times throughout training to make sure you are on track to meet your objectives.
The end goal of this preventative care program is “to establish healthier patterns to give you a better quality of life,” Garrigan said.
Ask your doctor or fitness center if they offer full wellness exams. Become a member of Equinox’s T4 program by signing up here.
SOURCE:http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/02/15/wellness-assessment-directs-path-to-get-fit-success/#ixzz1mWyHIsC3
Sugar poses enough health risks that it should be considered a controlled substance just like alcohol and tobacco, contend a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
In an opinion piece called “The Toxic Truth About Sugar” that was published Feb. 1 in the journal Nature, Robert Lustig, Laura Schmidt and Claire Brindis argue that it’s a misnomer to consider sugar just “empty calories.” They write: “There is nothing empty about these calories. A growing body of scientific evidence is showing that fructose can trigger processes that lead to liver toxicity and a host of other chronic diseases. A little is not a problem, but a lot kills — slowly.”
Almost everyone’s heard of — or personally experienced — the proverbial sugar high, so perhaps the comparison between sugar and alcohol or tobacco shouldn’t come as a surprise. But it’s doubtful that Americans will look favorably upon regulating their favorite vice. We’re a nation that’s sweet on sugar: the average U.S. adult downs 22 teaspoons of sugar a day, according to the American Heart Association, and surveys have found that teens swallow 34 teaspoons.
To counter our consumption, the authors advocate taxing sugary foods and controlling sales to kids under 17. Already, 17% of U.S. children and teens are obese, and across the world the sugar intake has tripled in the past 50 years. The increase has helped create a global obesity pandemic that contributes to 35 million annual deaths worldwide from noninfectious diseases including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
“There are good calories and bad calories, just as there are good fats and bad fats, good amino acids and bad amino acids, good carbohydrates and bad carbohydrates,” Lustig, a professor of pediatrics and director of the Weight Assessment for Teen and Child Health (WATCH) program at UCSF, said in a statement. “But sugar is toxic beyond its calories.”
The food industry tries to imply that “a calorie is a calorie,” says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. “But this and other research suggests there is something different about sugar,” says Brownell.
(MORE: Ads Featuring Overweight Children Make Some Experts Uncomfortable)
The UCSF report emphasizes the metabolic effects of sugar. Excess sugar can alter metabolism, raise blood pressure, skew the signaling of hormones and damage the liver — outcomes that sound suspiciously similar to what can happen after a person drinks too much alcohol. Schmidt, co-chair of UCSF’s Community Engagement and Health Policy program, noted on CNN: “When you think about it, this actually makes a lot of sense. Alcohol, after all, is simply the distillation of sugar. Where does vodka come from? Sugar.”
But there are also other areas of impact that researchers have investigated: the effect of sugar on the brain and how liquid calories are interpreted differently by the body than solids. Research has suggested that sugar activates the same reward pathways in the brain as traditional drugs of abuse like morphine or heroin. No one is claiming the effect of sugar is quite that potent, but, says Brownell, “it helps confirm what people tell you anecdotally, that they crave sugar and have withdrawal symptoms when they stop eating it.”
There’s also something particularly insidious about sugary beverages. “When calories come in liquids, the body doesn’t feel as full,” says Brownell. “People are getting more of their calories than ever before from sugared beverages.”
Other countries, including France, Greece and Denmark, levy soda taxes, and the concept is being considered in at least 20 U.S. cities and states. Last summer, Philadelphia came close to passing a 2-cents-per-ounce soda tax. The Rudd Center has been a vocal proponent of a more modest 1-cent-per-ounce tax. But at least one study, from 2010, has raised doubts that soda taxes would result in significant weight loss: apparently people who are determined to eat — and drink — unhealthily will find ways to do it.
(MORE: Banning Sugared Drinks in Schools Doesn’t Lower Student Consumption)
Ultimately, regulating sugar will prove particularly tricky because it transcends health concerns; sugar, for so many people, is love. A plate of cut-up celery just doesn’t pack the same emotional punch as a tin of homemade chocolate chip cookies, which is why I took my daughter for a cake pop and not an apple as an after-school treat today. We don’t do that regularly — it’s the first time this school year, actually — and that’s what made it special. As a society, could we ever reach the point where we’d think apples — not cake on a stick — are something to get excited over? Says Brindis, one of the report’s authors and director of UCSF’s Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies: “We recognize that there are cultural and celebratory aspects of sugar. Changing these patterns is very complicated.”
For inroads to be made, say the authors in their statement, people have to be better educated about the hazards of sugar and agree that something’s got to change:
Many of the interventions that have reduced alcohol and tobacco consumption can be models for addressing the sugar problem, such as levying special sales taxes, controlling access, and tightening licensing requirements on vending machines and snack bars that sell high sugar products in schools and workplaces.
“We’re not talking prohibition,” Schmidt said. “We’re not advocating a major imposition of the government into people’s lives. We’re talking about gentle ways to make sugar consumption slightly less convenient, thereby moving people away from the concentrated dose. What we want is to actually increase people’s choices by making foods that aren’t loaded with sugar comparatively easier and cheaper to get.”
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/02/should-sugar-be-regulated-like-alcohol-and-tobacco/?iid=hl-main-feature#ixzz1mRIwzWl1
