Wednesday: Health Points

Posted on January 30, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
A study published Monday hints that fitness buffs appear to have "younger" DNA than the chronically sedentary. The finding could help scientists understand the effects of exercise and aging at a molecular level.

Previous research has shown that being physically active reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases, potentially extending longevity.

Previous research has shown that older people have shorter ends than younger folks. Indeed, biologists say they shrink every time a cell divides.
Some 84 million people risk dying from cancer over the next decade, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said.


The IAEA, the UN atomic watchdog, is involved in the fight agaist the disease through its Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) division, which shares the organisation's knowledge of radiotherapy techniques with other partners in the field.

PACT head Massud Samiei told journalists that "the cancer epidemic will gather pace in developing countries."
About two-thirds of the cases were children who took the medicines unsupervised. However, about one-quarter involved cases in which parents gave the proper dosage and an allergic reaction or some other problem developed, the study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.


The study included both over-the-counter and prescription medicines. It comes less than two weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned parents that over-the-counter cough and cold medicines are too dangerous for children younger than 2.
The key is for both spouses to be comfortable expressing anger, rather than one or both suppressing anger, University of Michigan researchers report.


"The key matter is, when the conflict happens, how do you resolve it?" asks Ernest Harburg, PhD, professor emeritus with the University of Michigan's School of Public Health and psychology department. "If you bury your anger, and you brood on it ... and you don't try to resolve the problem, then you're in trouble."

Harburg's team found a higher death rate among married couples in which both spouses suppress anger, compared with other married couples. Their findings appear in the Journal of Family Communication.
Studies in the past have demonstrated that cannabis can cause cancer, but few have established a strong link between cannabis use and the actual incidence of lung cancer.


In an article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the scientists said cannabis could be expected to harm the airways more than tobacco as its smoke contained twice the level of carcinogens, such as polyaromatic hydrocarbons, compared with tobacco cigarettes.

The method of smoking also increases the risk, since joints are typically smoked without a proper filter and almost to the very tip, which increases the amount of smoke inhaled. The cannabis smoker inhales more deeply and for longer, facilitating the deposition of carcinogens in the airways.
BREAKFAST CEREALS
Seventh-Day Adventists are credited with creating breakfast cereals. They founded the Battle Creek Sanitarium, where they manufactured and promoted wholesome cereals. Will Keith Kellogg was an Adventist who discovered corn flakes in 1894 when a pot of cooked wheat was overcooked and then dried. Each grain became a separate flake. He introduced Rice Krispies in 1929. The Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company was founded in 1906.


THE DOUGHNUT
Originally introduced by the Dutch as sweet dough fried in pork fat (known as "oily cakes"), the doughnut has been around a very long time, although its popularity surged with the doughnuts served to solders in World War I. The term "doughnut" either comes from the small balls of dough that looked like nuts, or a recipe from a mid-19th century cook who added nuts to the center of her fried dough and therefore referred to them as dough "nuts." The legend goes on to say that her son, a sea captain, didn't like the nuts so he had them cut out, creating the famous doughnut shape that we know today. Doughnuts remained as snacks, not breakfast -- often served in theaters -- until the doughnut machine was invented in the 1930s. By the 1940s and 1950s, Krispy Kreme and Dunkin' Doughnuts had been introduced, and the pairing of coffee and doughnuts secured their place in the breakfast repertoire. By the 1950s, "drop" doughnuts became very popular and Orange Drop Doughnuts showed up in the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Since no rolling or cutting was required -- just drop spoonfuls of batter into hot oil -- this category of doughnuts caught on quickly.
The number of Americans being diagnosed with and also living with type 2 diabetes is soaring, presenting a major health and economic crisis for the United States, a new study reports.


"What's alarming is we have 47 million uninsured people, but these people [in the study, enrolled under Medicare] are all insured. So in this kind of insured program, we have so many people who are not adhering to the recommended care," said Frank Sloan, lead author of the study published in the Jan. 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Sloan is professor of health policy and management at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
The ayurvedic menu at Ananda Spa has been designed to balance the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. The doshas are roughly similar to our ectomorph, mesomorph, and endomorph body types, but they’re even more detailed, taking into consideration the shape of the face, skin type, hair, eyes, and temperament. Everyone is a mix of the three, but one dosha is predominant. If the doshas are balanced, you’ll enjoy good health, if not, you’re basically screwed…


…Once you know which dosha you align with, your ayurvedic practitioner will help you get in harmony through your food choices. To balance a Vata dosha, for example, you’re apparently supposed to eat mostly warm foods, such as soups, stews, warm milk, warm cereals, and baked bread (cream and butter are on the list too). And Vatas are advised to avoid cold foods, such as salads, iced drinks, and raw vegetables and greens. Hmm … doesn’t sound ideal for someone who is lactose-intolerant and loves her veggies.
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Friday: Health Points

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Uncontrolled diabetes wreaks havoc on the body, often leading to kidney failure, blindness and death. A new study shows that the nation's unchecked diabetes epidemic exacts a heavy financial toll as well: $174 billion a year.

That's about as much as the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism combined. It's more than the $150 billion in damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.

The incidence of diabetes has ballooned — there are 1 million new cases a year — as more Americans become overweight or obese, according to the study, released Wednesday by the American Diabetes Association. The cost of diabetes — both in direct medical care and lost productivity — has swelled 32% since 2002, the report shows.

Diabetes killed more than 284,000 Americans last year, according to the diabetes association.
  • Much to my personal delight, Yoga is growing in popularity. Katie Zezima of The New York Times investigates a boot camp for Yoga teachers. Check it out:
In May 2006, Sue Jones started YogaHope, an organization that teaches yoga at eight Boston-area women’s homeless shelters, substance-abuse treatment programs and domestic-violence safe houses, as well as two programs in Seattle. The focus is on teaching restorative yoga, and though many teachers have completed at least 200 hours of training, it is not a requirement.


Driven by a sometimes missionary zeal and a sense that yoga has become an exclusive pursuit, a small but growing number of yoga practitioners are forming organizations that teach yoga in prisons and juvenile detention centers in Oakland, Calif.; Los Angeles, Seattle and Indianapolis. They are working with the addicted and the homeless in Portland, Ore., and with public-school students in New York City.

Though concern about the cost of yoga is an issue (studio classes can cost $20 for a drop-in session, though some offer free or low-cost classes taught by less experienced teachers), most of the practitioners are motived by a desire to introduce yoga to those who might need it most, but wouldn’t think to do it on their own.
Stop-and-go pushup
Assume a pushup position. Brace your core and lower your chest to the floor. When you’re halfway down, pause 2 seconds before continuing. Then, when your chest is 2 inches from the floor, pause again for 2 seconds before pushing halfway back up. Hold for 2 more seconds, then straighten your arms. Do eight reps.


Stop-and-go split squat
Stand with one foot 3 feet forward and hold a barbell across your shoulders. Rise on the ball of your back foot, then bend at the knees. When halfway down, pause for 2 seconds. Pause again when your back knee is just off the floor. Push halfway up, pause again, and return to the starting position. Do six reps with each leg.
The campaign, to be launched in the summer, will form part of a wider strategy including aspects like food labelling, urban design and the promotion of exercise.


Department of Health officials said it will use simple messages -- such as the "five pieces of fruit and veg a day" slogan -- and be based on research into what actually works to make people change from unhealthy lifestyles.

"Tackling obesity is the most significant public and personal health challenge facing our society," said Health Secretary Alan Johnson as he launched the 372 million pound cross-government strategy.
"A didgeri-what?" you ask. While aborigines in Australia have been playing this long wooden trumpet for centuries, it's just recently been redefined as a modern-day medical device. Researchers reporting in the British Medical Journal evaluated 25 people with sleep apnea--a breath-stealing condition caused by flabby throat muscles--and found that those who took 4 months of didgeridoo (DIH-jeh-ree-doo) lessons had about 31/2 times less daytime sleepiness than the folks who didn't blow their own horns. The newly minted musicians also snored significantly less. Credit this uncommon cure to vibrations that exercise tissue in the mouth and throat, says researcher Milo Puhan, Ph.D. "When these muscles are strengthened, the tongue has less tendency to obstruct the airway."


If huffing on a wooden tube to treat your sleep apnea sounds a tad too weird, then you probably aren't familiar with the alternatives. The most commonly prescribed option is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which involves spending every night hooked up to a machine that pumps air down your throat to keep it from collapsing. The other approach is surgery, and that's only 30 to 60 percent effective. Now are you ready to toot the didgeridoo? You can pick up a beginner-friendly model for about $80 at L.A. Outback (laoutback.com). And don't worry; it's intuitive to learn, says co-owner Barry Martin. You purse your lips and blow into it with the beat.
  • Diet Blog hardly has a glowing endorsement for “Slim Coffee.” Jim Foster thinks it’s nothing but a big scam:
It must be so tempting for unscrupulous entrepreneurs:


Find an obscure weight loss product from somewhere overseas. Re-brand it. Hype it up. Create an infomercial. Make millions.

This time it's Slim Coffee. The claims are impressive: "Reduce appetite. Clinically tested. Lose 5 pounds per week". All from drinking coffee with a few supplements added (or so they say).

The makers of Slim Coffee have been pursued by the FTC - resulting in a $923,000 settlement.
Previous studies had suggested that people living in polluted areas are more at risk of heart disease. For example, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year showed that women in 36 American cities were more likely to develop heart disease if the air they breathed was rich in particles measuring 2.5 micrometres or less in diameter - known as PM2.5s - which are present in car exhaust fumes.


It now seems that a greater hazard may be posed by so-called "ultrafine" particles, about a dozen times smaller at 0.18 micrometres wide. The latest study in mice has shown that they clog up arteries with fatty atherosclerotic deposits, and chemically alter "good" cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, reducing its beneficial effects.
How does yoga help a professional athlete's game?
Yoga improves balance in the body and works the smaller muscles that normally wouldn't get worked. It also improves range of motion, whether that means swinging a golf club, throwing a baseball or shooting a basketball. It builds stamina through breath control and teaches techniques for relaxing in tense moments. Most important, yoga gives you confidence that your body will do what you want it to do when you need it to.
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Tahini, Gizmos, and Suzanne Somers

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Yesterday, Steve a loyal DiseaseProof reader sent me a great email. First he wanted to talk about sesame seeds and tahini. Here’s what he had to say:
I never realized that sesame seeds should actually be dark. WOW! These days I am having trouble even finding raw tahini, I have never seen dark tahini. I guess I am going to have to start doing what you do, just sprinkle them into recipes. I will have to hit the "health food" stores to find them. The health food stores here in Waterloo are basically pathetic, pills and potions and expensive "detoxes", one for each organ in the body it would seem.
Hey! If you know where to find some raw tahini, speak up! Next, Steve wanted to weigh in on ab-machines and other fitness gizmos. Take a look:
I know what you mean about the ads on TV for fitness apparatus. They constantly give the impression that working the abs will reduce belly fat (spot reduction). I don't use an ab machine, but I am sympathetic to these little types of gizmos for working out. I have a minimalist "spare bedroom gym". I have one-ended dumbbells (for wrist exercises), one of those medieval things for working the back of the neck, tubing for hip rotations, and a Dynamic Axial Resistance Device (DARD) which works the oft-neglected shins.
Anyone else have a gripe about infomercial fitness gizmos? Do tell! Finally, Steve explains why he is mad at his town library. Check it out:
One last thing, I am going to chide my local library. I noticed only one Dr. Fuhrman book (Eat to Live), but about six different Suzanne Somers books. Come on! We are supposed to be a world leading "intelligent community", and this just looks bad.
Thanks for the email Steve! Keep reading. Remember, if you ever want to tell me something, just shoot an email to diseaseproof@gmail.com, or, make a comment. I’m always happy to hear from you. Peace.
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Stay in Shape, Stay Alive!

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Hey, it’s stating the obvious, but it’s still cool. A new study claims the more fit you are, the longer you are likely to live. Jamie Stengle of the Associated Press reports:
The research builds on what is already known about the benefits of exercise and fills in some gaps by addressing the effects of fitness in blacks.


"A little bit of exercise goes a long way," said Peter Kokkinos, lead author of the study. "Thirty minutes a day, five days a week of brisk walking is likely to reduce the risk of mortality by 50 percent if not more."

With 15,660 participants, the researchers said the study is the largest to look at the link between fitness and mortality. The study also sets itself apart by looking at how exercise affects blacks, whose death rates are higher than whites. About 43 percent of the veterans in the study were black.
For more exercise news, check out DiseaseProof’s exercise category.
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Walking, Ab-Machines, and Gyms

Posted on January 23, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Maybe we don’t need all the fancy workout machines because new research has determined that simply walking an hour a week can cut colon cancer risk. Reuters reports:
While just an hour of walking a week seemed to protect against the disease, the more strenuously women exercised, the lower their risk, Dr. Kathleen Y. Wolin of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and colleagues found.


"Our findings suggest that participation in lower intensity activities may be sufficient to reduce risk though more vigorous activity provides comparable or perhaps additional risk reduction," they write in the International Journal of Cancer.

Research showing that exercise reduces colon cancer risk has been "consistent and convincing," Wolin and her team say, but questions remain about the intensity of exercise necessary to reduce risk.
An hour a week seems pretty skimpy to me, but don’t go turning to a over-hyped infomercial ab-machine. Diet Blog thinks they’re bupkis. Take a look:
Not true. Here's a reality check.


What the ab machine will NOT do:
  • Give you a fake tan.
  • Reduce your body fat percentage to single digits.
  • Make you look pretty.
  • Give you white teeth.
  • Build massive biceps and pecs.
  • Build muscular thighs and calves.
  • Build shredded deltoids.
  • Increase overall strength.
  • Give you a slender waist.
  • Give you large perky breasts.
To gain the above things, you will need a combination of; months to years of diligent cardiovascular and strength training, a powerful commitment to maintain a fairly strict diet (often with different goal phases of 'bulking' and fat loss), and possibly some cosmetic surgery and other cosmetic work.
Now, if you’re a gym-rat like me. You’ll never give up the gym for an hour of walking or the latest ab-blaster. So for us, Poked & Prodded shares tips for finding the right fitness club. Check it out:
If you are looking to join a new club, keep these smart-shopping tips from CR in mind.
  • Get a free trial. You’ll likely have to listen to a sales pitch, then can work out for one day, or even one week.
  • Ask about membership choices. Seniors or students can usually get special rates; many chains have levels of membership based on club access or amenities.
  • Ask about payment options. You might pay more for a month-to-month plan, but it offers more freedom than a full-year contract.
  • Don’t get pressured by a ‘special.’ Clubs run promotions all the time; about half the clubs had specials on the day Consumer Reports’ survey respondents visited.
  • Try bargaining. Haggling down enrollment fees and even monthly dues worked for some of the Consumer Reports shoppers at big chains.
If you can swing it, joining a gym is well worth the cost. Think of it this way, you’re investing in your health.
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Pedometers, Cold Weather, and Exercise

Posted on January 21, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
I’m not a pedometer guy, nothing against them. I’m just not so neurotic that I need to count every step I’ve taken, but for those who do. New research has concluded that pedometers help you lose weight. Reuters reports:
People who added 20 to 40 minutes of walking a day lost a small but steady amount of weight, the team at the University of Michigan found.


"The increase in physical activity can be expected to result in health benefits that are independent of weight loss," said Dr. Caroline Richardson, who led the study.

"Increasing physical activity reduces the risk of cardiovascular problems, lowers blood pressure and helps dieters maintain lean muscle tissue when they are dieting."

Writing in the Annals of Family Medicine, Richardson and colleagues said they reviewed nine studies involving 307 men and women. They took part in studies of pedometer use that ranged from four weeks to a year.
Now, if you’ve got a pedometer, but you think it’s too cold to go outside and use it, think again. Scientists contend that cold weather is no excuse for not exercising. More from Gina Kolota of The New York Times:
The problem with exercising in the cold, exercise physiologists say, is that people may be hobbled by myths that lead them to overdress or to stop moving, risky things to do.


Some worry that cold air will injure their lungs or elicit asthma symptoms. Or they are convinced that they are more susceptible to injury when it is cold and that they have to move more slowly — forget about sprinting or running at a fast clip.

But lungs are not damaged by cold, said Kenneth W. Rundell, the director of respiratory research and the human physiology laboratory at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa. No matter how cold the air is, by the time it reaches your lungs, it is body temperature, he explained.

Some people complain that they get exercise-induced asthma from the cold. But that sort of irritation of the respiratory tract is caused by dryness, not cold, Dr. Rundell said. “Cold air just happens not to hold much water and is quite dry,” he said. You’d have the same effect exercising in air that was equally dry but warm.
But I hate the cold! Oh well, time to bundle up like an Eskimo—and where’s my pedometer?
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I Hate New Year's Resolutions!

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Permit me to grumble for a second. Actually, I’d forgotten about this particular gripe until I read this article in The Oregonian. Laura Oppenheimer talks about the all newbies that hit the gyms as part of their “New Year’s resolution.” Take a look:
For newcomers, January could make or break a resolution to get fit in 2008. But for gym rats, this is the worst time of year: The invasion of the "Resolution People."


"I have some members that actually stop coming to class in January because it's crowded," says Danielle Ford, fitness manager at Cascade Athletic Club in Gresham. "They hate it."

Gyms add more new members in January than any other month, says the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association.

Cascade Athletic Club, for example, expects to sell 150 memberships at its Gresham location, up from 75 to 100 in a typical month. Plus, regulars spend more time at the gym now that the holidays are over and, for some, the numbers on the scale have inched up.

At Giants Gym in Portland, owner George Kidd says he counts on happy members to advertise for him. So he needs to combat conventional wisdom about New Year recruits: "They come into the gym, they spend all this money and then they fail." Studies show more than half of new exercisers quit within six months.
Honestly, I’m happy for people that want to change their life and use the New Year as a starting point, but the people that don’t stick with it and hog all the good machines, talk on their cell-phones, and simply meander, really do get on my nerves—know what I mean?
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Exercise and Menopause

Posted on January 16, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Pay attention ladies. Some new research has determined that exercise may ease the symptoms of menopause. Reuters is on it:
Researchers found that middle-aged women who exercised regularly had lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression around the time of menopause than those who did not exercise regularly.


The findings, published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Medicine, add to evidence that physical activity can benefit mental, as well as physical, health.

"With the aging population, physical activity represents one way for women to stay mentally healthy," Dr. Deborah B. Nelson, the lead researcher on the study, said in a statement. "Physical activity can help throughout the menopausal transition and afterwards," added Nelson, a public health researcher at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The findings are based on data from 380 Philadelphia women who were 42 years old, on average, and premenopausal at the beginning of the study. Eight years later, 20 percent were menopausal and another 18 percent were in the late transitional phase.
Now, for fellow gym rats like me, Julie from Julie’s Health Club talks about why exercise is her favorite drug. Take a look:
I almost always come back from my workouts slightly high but also more focused, confident, alert and social. Two groundbreaking new books that view exercise as medicine explain why: Physical activity enhances the mind by balancing the brain's neurotransmitters along with other chemicals. Weight loss, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness are simply welcome side effects that come from breaking into a sweat.
"I tell people that going for a run is like taking a little bit of Prozac and a little bit of Ritalin because, like the drugs, exercise elevates those neurotransmitters," Harvard psychiatrist John Ratey writes in "Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain" (Little, Brown, $24.95). "Keeping your brain in balance can change your life."
It certainly did for world-class endurance athlete Christopher Bergland, an ultrarunner who holds the Guinness World Record for running farther and faster on a treadmill than any other human (153.76 miles in 24 hours).
The runner’s high is cool, but sometimes instead of a high, I get a “oh my god, I’m going to drop dead!”
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Strength Training Good for the Neck

Posted on January 14, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
A Danish study has determined strength training exercises can help relieve chronic neck pain. Robert Preidt of HealthDay News reports:
The Danish researchers found that specific strength training exercises produced prolonged relief of neck muscle pain, but general fitness training led to only a small reduction in neck pain.


The study included 94 women with chronic neck pain who did assembly line or office work -- 79 percent of them used a keyboard for more than three-quarters of their working time. The women were assigned to one of three groups: supervised specific strength training (SST) exercises for the neck and shoulder muscles; high-intensity general fitness training (GFT) on a bicycle ergometer; or health counseling but no physical training.

The women in the two exercise groups worked out for 20 minutes three times a week for 10 weeks. Those in the SST group showed a marked decrease in neck pain with a lasting effect after the training ended, while those in the GFT group showed a small temporary decrease in neck pain after exercise.
Come to think of it. Reading all this health news everyday certainly gives me a crick in the neck!
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Calcium, Exercise; Good for Young Girls

Posted on January 11, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Most people are convinced that milk is the only REAL source of calcium—hogwash! Dr. Fuhrman makes it quite clear, fruits and vegetables—especially green vegetables—are loaded with calcium. He talks about in his book Eat to Live. Take a look:
Many green vegetables have calcium-absorption rates of over 50 percent, compared with about 32 percent for milk.1 Additionally since animal protein induces calcium excretion in the urine, the calcium retention from vegetables is higher. All green vegetables are high in calcium.
In fact, if you break it down per calorie. Many fruits and vegetables contain far more milligrams of calcium than foods like milk and eggs. Check out this chart:




Now, here’s something really cool—ladies pay special attention—new research has determined that a calcium-rich diet and lots of exercise early in life, is a great way to maintain strong bones later in life. Pohla Smith of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
Orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jan Grudziak likens the process of building bones strong enough to prevent osteoporosis to investing in a retirement fund. But in the case of bones, the fund is built from childhood on by eating calcium-rich foods and doing weight-bearing exercise.


His metaphor is particularly apt for women, who have lower peak bone mass than men, start to lose it much earlier and lose it at a slightly faster rate.

"The best picture is that it's an investment for the future," said Dr. Grudziak, of Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. "With the retirement for bone, the age is 30 to 35. You have to drain the investments." Just like retirement funds, the earlier and bigger the investment, the more bone strength you have to lose…

…"It's been quoted that less than half [of the girls] get the calcium quantities they need," said registered dietitian Cindy Miller, who is part of the clinical nutrition staff of Children's Outpatient Nutrition Counseling Center. "For ages 9 to 12 it might be better. They're younger and parents might have a little more control over them than a teen who goes out to a restaurant and won't order milk. ... They say only 15 percent of teen girls get the required amount of calcium."

That amount is 1,300 milligrams, the high-calcium equivalent of four dairy servings. One serving is 8 ounces of milk or yogurt or 11/2 ounces of hard cheese, Ms. Miller said. Other good sources include pudding; dark leafy vegetables, particularly collard and turnip greens and broccoli; calcium-fortified or calcium-set soy; dry beans; and calcium-fortified foods like orange juice, soy milk or rice milk.
You got to love the kudos being given to veggie calcium—very cool! Another great source of plant calcium is flaxseed. Here’s what Dr. Fuhrman has to say about this neat little seed. Have a look:
Flaxseed is rich in lignans, a type of fiber associated with a reduced risk of both breast cancer and prostate cancer, and omega 3 essential fatty acid, also known as alpha linoleic acid (ALA), which is essential for health maintenance and disease prevention. In addition, flaxseed is a good source of iron, zinc, calcium, protein, potassium, magnesium, vitamin E, and folate.
Now, as far as exercises goes. We all know it’s good for us, but, do you know the proper way to do different exercises? If you don’t, these exercise demonstrations from The Washington Post will get you up to speed. Here’s a couple:





Good thing that guy’s not straining too hard. In that position…bad things could happen—EEK!
Continue Reading...
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Home Fitness

Posted on January 8, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
No time to join a gym. Don’t fret, there’s plenty of ways to exercise at home. Madeline Vann of HealthDay News offers up a list. Here are a few points:
  • Check with your doctor to find out if you are able to start a new fitness routine and schedule a visit with a physical trainer to get a baseline measure of your strength, flexibility and endurance.
  • Buy the correct equipment to meet the goals you set once you know what your baseline health and fitness levels are. Buy hand weights to build tone and strength. On the other hand, a treadmill will help with heart health and endurance, said Colleen Greene, wellness coordinator with MFit, the University of Michigan Health System's health promotion division.
  • Creative use of household items may cut costs. A can of soup can be used as a weight for repetition. Certain fitness programs focus on using your own body to provide resistance.
  • Get outside. Many outdoor activities, from cross-country skiing to playing with children, are great ways to increase physical activity.
  • Get support from friends and family. According to Greene, it is helpful to have a friend to work out with -- and just as welcome to have a family member who is willing to watch the baby or wash the dishes while you take a walk.
Growing up, my mom used to do aerobics while holding cans of corn, at the time I just figured she was a nut, turns out she was cutting edge—who knew?
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Exercise, Coca-Cola Helps?

Posted on January 7, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
When I think Coca-Cola, I think unhealthy beverage, liquid sugar, caffeine addiction, and most vividly—DON’T DRINK—but, ExerciseTV thinks coke is an exercise ally. Diet Blog is on it:
Exercise TV – a video on-demand network that produces workout videos and other training tools is partnering with Coca Cola. In the agreement, numerous brands from Coca-Cola’s portfolio of beverages will be featured through a variety of integration channels.
Coca-Cola continues to make great strides in educating the public about the importance of exercise, and how its broad range of products can benefit health-conscious consumer.
Said Jake Steinfeld, founder of ExerciseTV.

Try as I may, it is difficult for me not to be bothered by this marriage.

Coke’s recent introduction of “healthier” beverages to the market notwithstanding, you can never separate the pod from the mother ship. Coca Cola’s core product will always be… Coca Cola. It’s the same as if it were to be sponsored by a fast food chain. After all, fast food chains do sell salads.
I’m with Diet Blog on this one. When I think about this marriage, I smell bull poop; especially when you consider soft drinks’ role in the obesity boom. Remember this from Soda Surcharge, Will it Work? Take a look:



Source: Data from the National Soft Drink Association, Beverage World,
published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (www.cspinet.org).

Coca-Cola’s exercise advocacy sounds like the work of highly paid corporate spin doctors to me. What do you think?
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Inactivity Bad for Obesity

Posted on January 4, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Here’s a stunning revelation, if overweight and obese people exercised even a little bit, they’d be healthier. Jack Kelly of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports:
According to a study published in Science magazine in 2003, the typical American aged 20 to 40 has been gaining about 2 pounds a year. That could be prevented if we burned just 100 additional calories per day. We could burn an additional 100 calories each day by walking briskly for 10 to 15 minutes, dancing for 20, or doing housework for 30.


The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit group financed mostly by restaurants and food manufacturers, who have a vested interest in keeping us (over) eating. But the CCF's report is partially supported by two recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About two-thirds of American adults are overweight, and half of these are obese, according to the National Institutes for Health. Obesity is defined by the NIH as having a body mass index of 30 or more. A person with a BMI of 40 or higher is considered morbidly obese. Body mass index is a ratio of an individual's weight (in kilograms) divided by the square of his or her height (in meters). A BMI of from 18.5 to 25 is considered optimal.

In the first study, published in JAMA Nov. 7, Katherine Flegal and her collaborators found that people who are overweight, but not obese, are at a lower risk for death than are people of normal weight. (Underweight people and the obese are at a significantly greater risk.)

In the second study, published in JAMA Dec. 4, Dr. Xuemei Sui and his collaborators found that senior citizens who keep fit are at a substantially lower risk for death, even if they are overweight.
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Exercise: A Great New Year's Resolution

Posted on January 2, 2008 by Gerald Pugliese
Yoga induces a feeling of well-being in healthy people, and can reverse the clinical and biochemical changes associated with metabolic syndrome, according to results of studies from Sweden and India. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of heart disease risk factors such as high blood pressure, obesity and high blood sugar.

Dr. R.P. Agrawal, of the SP Medical College, Bikaner, India, and colleagues evaluated the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation in 101 adults with features of metabolic syndrome. In the study, 55 adults received three months of regular yoga including standard postures and Raja Yoga, a form of transcendental meditation daily, while the remaining received.
The most important part of pulmonary rehabilitation is aerobic exercise, which boosts your endurance and strengthens your muscles, lessening your symptoms and improving your tolerance for activity. It usually involves walking on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bicycle. The particular exercises you do will depend on your tolerance for exercise and the condition of your joints, bones and muscles.


If you can't walk due to severe breathlessness, you may start off on a stationary bicycle or make cycling motions while sitting in a chair. If you can walk but have little endurance, you may use the treadmill, slowly increasing the time and intensity of your workout. Many rehabilitation programs also offer strength and flexibility training. That's because people with COPD often have weak arm, leg and trunk muscles that limit physical activity. Strength training may be done by lifting weights, using weight machines or pulling on elastic bands. Flexibility training consists of stretching exercises.
Increasing exercise and or losing weight are often the most popular New Year’s resolutions – and lack of time is the most stated reason for not exercising…


…If you have your own office, consider keeping a resistance band or a couple of sets of dumbbells at your desk. You can squeeze in some quick upper body exercises while you are on the phone. If you work in a cubicle or don’t want people to see you exercising at your desk, a full water bottle can be your dumbbell.
Local malls open early for walkers to stretch their legs before shoppers arrive. Some malls have partnerships with health care agencies, which provide seminars and equip walkers with pedometers, T-shirts or bottles of water.


"Here walking is very, very popular. You see the numbers increase as it gets colder," said Cheryl Rouse, director of mall marketing at Southridge Mall.

As much as walking is a healthy choice, it's also a social gathering for the walkers.

"You see a lot of unity out there," Rouse said.
1. Join a fitness center that is convenient to your lifestyle. “It’s great if you see that a fitness center across town is all new and sparkly, but if you have to fight cross-town traffic to get there it’s probably not a good choice,” advises Greene. It is also important to make sure the center’s hours mesh with your schedule, if it offers child care or other programs you may need and that it has a qualified staff.


2. Ask questions. Don’t be shy about learning all that the fitness center has to offer, says Greene. Most gyms have specialists and personal trainers that can help you navigate equipment and devise the best plan for your fitness needs. You should also get the OK from your doctor as you begin a new workout routine, and ask any questions that you may have about your health.

3. Try things you’ve never done before. “If you think Pilates is something for dancers only or if you think yoga means standing on your head, most gyms will have some sort of special drop-in rate for either the first week or first few sessions of a class,” says Greene. “Go ahead and try it! You may find that you like it.”
1. Cardio


"Basically anything that uses your full body to get your heart pumping." said Holland.

— At least 30 minutes of moderate cardio exercise a day

— This includes brisk walking, running, swimming, biking, or exercise videos

— If you don't have time in your day for the full 30 minutes, try three 10 minute bouts of exercise throughout the day

2. Strength training

"As we get older the muscles are getting smaller and losing the ability to contract," said Holland. "We can change this by strength training. The other thing we see is that mature adults have higher fat content. There is more diabetes due to lower muscle mass, so strength training is essential to regulate glucose metabolism."

Work those muscles twice a week for 30 to 45 minutes by doing exercises such as:

— Pushups (if you're a beginner, do them against a wall to start)

— Using a resistance band which is light weight and inexpensive

— Bicep curls and tricep extensions

— Modified squats and lunges which works many muscles at once

And make sure you leave 24 to 48 hours between strength training because your muscles need time to bounce back and rest. You don't want overuse injuries.
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