Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

No one wants creaky bones, but the number of hospitalizations for osteoporosis-related fractures has increased in the United States, jumping 55% since 1995. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality says more than 254,000 hospital stays are due to injuries stemming from osteoporosis.

That’s why Dr. Fuhrman made a DVD called Osteoporosis Protection for Life. In it he explains what you can do to keep your bones strong and healthy, with exercise, improved diet and supplements.

Most people mistakenly are led to believe that drugs are the answer to treating osteopenia and osteoporosis. However, studies reveal that the bisphosphonates, like Actonel, Fosamax, Boniva, and Reclast, commonly prescribed for osteoporosis, are not as effective as we have been led to believe. As more and more research data comes out about the long-term risks of these medications, we are finding out that they are more dangerous than we had previously thought.

I want to give people the information they need to put an effective plan into action. In this video, I offer my advice regarding diet, supplements, and exercise. I am joined by my wife, Lisa, and staff to demonstrate the best exercises to effectively build your strength and bone mass. We've even added a fun 15 minute workout to start you on your way. Now is the time to take control of your health destiny!

For more, here’s a preview clip of Osteoporosis Protection for Life.

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Here’s a revelation! If you don’t smoke, exercise, eat right and maintain a healthy body weight you are less likely to get sick, so says a survey of nearly 24,000 adults in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Most participants had one to three of these health factors, fewer than 4 percent had zero healthy factors and 9 percent had all four factors. Over an average of 7.8 years of follow-up, 2,006 participants developed new cases of diabetes (3.7 percent), heart attack (0.9 percent), stroke (0.8 percent) or cancer (3.8 percent).

After adjusting for age, sex, education level and occupation, individuals with more healthy lifestyle factors were less likely to develop chronic diseases. Participants who had all four factors at the beginning of the study had a 78 percent lower risk of developing any of the chronic diseases during the follow-up period than those who had none of the healthy factors. The four factors were associated with a 93 percent reduced risk of diabetes, 81 percent reduced risk of heart attack, 50 percent reduced risk of stroke and 36 percent reduced risk of cancer.

The largest reduction in risk was associated with having a BMI lower than 30, followed by never smoking, at least 3.5 hours of physical activity and then adhering to good dietary principles.

I know, pretty obvious advice, but it doesn’t hurt to remind people. Like this. In February, scientists determined if people exercised more and ate better it would help stifle global cancer rates.

Via Newswise.

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Poor little lab rats! New findings in the FASEB Journal show consuming a high-fat diet significantly reduces physical endurance—and memory—in rats. After nine days, rats on a high-fat diet could only run half the distance of rats eating a low-fat diet.

On the fifth day of the high-fat diet (the first day back on the treadmill), the rats were already running 30 per cent less far than those remaining on the low-fat diet. By the ninth day, the last of the experiment, they were running 50 per cent less far.

The rats on the high-fat diet were also making mistakes sooner in the maze task, suggesting that their cognitive abilities were also being affected by their diet. The number of correct decisions before making a mistake dropped from over six to an average of 5 to 5.5.

The researchers also investigated what metabolic changes the high-fat diet was inducing in the rats. They found increased levels of a specific protein called the 'uncoupling protein' in the muscle and heart cells of rats on the high-fat diet. This protein 'uncouples' the process of burning food stuffs for energy in the cells, reducing the efficiency of the heart and muscles. This could at least partly explain the reduction in treadmill running seen in the rats.

The rats that were fed a high fat diet and had to run on the treadmill also had a significantly bigger heart after nine days, suggesting the heart had to increase in size to pump more blood around the body and get more oxygen to the muscles.

High-fat diets will jack you up! Back in April, a study showed low-fat diets improve people’s health after weight-loss by improving blood vessel function much better than fatty diets.

Via EurekAlert!

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Beets are powerful juju. Not only will they turn your pee red, but a new study in the Journal of Applied Physiology, claims beetroot juice boosts stamina and can help you exercise longer.

The research team believes that the findings could be of great interest to endurance athletes. They could also be relevant to elderly people or those with cardiovascular, respiratory or metabolic diseases.

The research team conducted their study with eight men aged between 19 and 38. They were given 500ml per day of organic beetroot juice for six consecutive days before completing a series of tests, involving cycling on an exercise bike. On another occasion, they were given a placebo of blackcurrant cordial for six consecutive days before completing the same cycling tests.

After drinking beetroot juice the group was able to cycle for an average of 11.25 minutes, which is 92 seconds longer than when they were given the placebo. This would translate into an approximate 2% reduction in the time taken to cover a set distance.

And root vegetables, like beets and carrots, are loaded with fiber and powerful antioxidants, like cartonoids and betacyanin, which protect against cancer by stopping cell mutations.

Via EurekAlert!

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I love Yoga! I practice twice a week. So this is awesome. Findings in the journal Health Education & Behavior reveal doing a little yoga and meditation everyday during lunch can help people reduce stress at work.

Participants attended one-hour weekly group meetings during lunch and practiced 20 minutes of meditation and yoga per day at their desks. After six weeks, program participants reported that they were more aware of external stressors, they felt less stressed by life events, and they fell asleep more easily than did a control group that did not experience the intervention.

“Because chronic stress is associated with chronic disease, I am focusing on how to reduce stress before it has a chance to contribute to disease,” said Maryanna Klatt, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of clinical allied medicine at Ohio State.

“My interest is to see whether or not we can get people to reduce their health care utilization because they’re less stressed. I want to deliver something low cost at the work site, something practical that can be sustained, that can help reduce health care costs,” Klatt said.

It’s weird for me though. If I’m too stressed I can’t do Yoga. I can’t focus. But I better find a way to chill out, because Dr. Fuhrman insists reducing negative stress is an important of a long healthy life. My bad!

Via Newswise.

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