Sourse:Greek Salad Recipe

Consumer Reports' latest tests of packaged leafy greens found bacteria that are common indicators of poor sanitation and fecal contamination, in some cases, at rather high levels. The story appears in the March 2010 issue of Consumer Reports and is also available free online. Consumers Union today also issued a report urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set safety standards for greens. FDA food safety legislation pending in the Senate, and passed last summer by the House of Representatives, would require the FDA to create just such safety standards.

The tests, which were conducted with financial support from the Pew Health Group, assessed for several types of bacteria, including total coliforms and Enterococcus–”indicator organisms” found in the human digestive tract and in the ambient environment that can signal inadequate sanitation and the potential for the presence of disease-causing organisms. While there are no existing federal standards for indicator bacteria in salad greens, there are standards for these bacteria in milk, beef, and drinking water. Several industry consultants suggest that an unacceptable level in leafy greens would be 10,000 or more colony forming units per gram (CFU/g).

Consumer Reports found that 39 percent of samples exceeded this level for total coliform, and 23 percent for Enterococcus. The tests did not find E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella–sometimes deadly pathogens which can be found in greens, although it was not expected given the small sample size. According to Consumers Union, the goal was to investigate other markers of poor sanitation that should be used in the food safety management of produce.

“Although these 'indicator' bacteria generally do not make healthy people sick, the tests show not enough is being done to assure the safety or cleanliness of leafy greens,” said Dr. Michael Hansen, senior scientist at Consumers Unions, nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports. “Levels of bacteria varied widely, even among different samples of the same brand. More research and effort is needed within the industry to better protect the public. In the meantime, consumers should buy packages of greens that are as far from the use-by date as possible.”

For its latest analysis, Consumer Reports had an outside lab test 208 containers of 16 brands of salad greens, sold in plastic clamshells or bags, bought last summer from stores in Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York. Among the findings:

• 39 percent of samples exceeded 10,000 CFUs (or another similar measure) per gram for total coliforms and 23 percent for Enterococcus, the levels industry consultants deemed unacceptable.
• 2 percent of samples exceeded French and 5 percent Brazilian standards for fecal coliform bacteria.
• Many packages containing spinach, and packages which were one to five days from their use-by date, had higher bacterial levels. Packages six to eight days from their use-by date generally fared better.
• Whether the greens came in a clamshell or bag, included “baby” greens, or were organic made no difference in bacteria levels.
• Brands for which there were more than four samples, including national brands Dole, Earthbound Farm Organic, and Fresh Express, plus regional and store brands, had at least one package with relatively high levels of total coliforms or Enterococcus.

CU is calling on the Senate to pass pending FDA food safety reform legislation that requires the agency to set performance standards as well as develop safety standards for the growing or processing of fresh produce. It's also asking that FDA formally declare certain pathogenic bacteria–such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria–be considered adulterants when found in salad greens.

Until packaged salad becomes cleaner, consumers' best line of defense involves following these procedures in stores and kitchens:

• Buy packages far from their use-by date.
• Wash the greens even if the packages say “prewashed” or “triplewashed.” Rinsing won't remove all bacteria but may remove residual soil.
• Prevent cross contamination of greens by keeping them away from raw meat and poultry.

Originally posted on CivilEats.com

Do You Mind If Mint Sells Data Based On Your Transactions?Chris Walters

March 16, 2010 11:34 AM

Muscle Relaxers For

Over the last few days we have been hearing numerous stories about Gregory “Hurricane” Helms. As most have heard by now, both he and Chris Jericho were arrested a few days ago.

But why was Jericho allowed to compete at the Royal Rumble and Helms was pulled?

The reason is completely simple, Jericho wasn't the man who caused any issues. In fact, the police were called for Helms and his reckless behavior, and because Jericho stuck around (unlike Matt Hardy who was with both Helms and Jericho but ran when police arrived) he was arrested for being intoxicated in public.

Kinda reminds me of what a comedian said. “I was thrown out in public while being in a bar, I was caught by police and they wanted to arrest me for being drunk in public, I wasn't drunk in public, I was drunk in a bar. They threw me out in public.”

They both were apparently play wrestling and Jericho got hit, which is where the black eye you saw him sporting at The Royal Rumble came from. Helms was said to have done that, and allegedly struck a woman.

Helms and Jericho were arrested and then bailed out soon after, but the story doesn't stop there.

At the time of the arrest, Helms had what police said was ”one white round pill.” Now, some could think this was claritan or something along those lines at first glance unless they were a pharmacist or another type of drug professional.

So the police asked Helms about it, and Helms told them it was Soma. The pill is a generic version of the muscle relaxer Carisoprodol and a schedule four narcotic. Many who have used it said it is a very good, I've never tried it so I'm going by online reports here.

Now Helms claimed that he had a prescription for it, but he was unable to prove it at the time of the arrest.

The police did not charge Helms for the single pill, but should he be unable to provide a prescription he will be in violation of the WWE Wellness Policy and Kentucky state law. I am not sure on what their policy is for possession of one Soma pill though.

A lot of wrestlers use pain killers or muscle relaxers, and many in places such as the WWE or TNA have prescriptions for them. There are times in which they do not, where they have some that have a prescription yet have others without one.

But it's mostly Indy wrestlers that don't have prescriptions for drugs nowadays.

In any case, Helms may be out the door quite soon.

And this was before the arrest by the way. According to my sources, Helms met with the WWE legal department early last month about a release from World Wrestling Entertainment.

It was believed that if he was going to be leaving the WWE, it would be after the Royal Rumble at some point.

Helms has a veteran's policy in his contract, which means his no compete clause when released is about 45 days, instead of the normal 90 most wrestlers see upon their release from the WWE.

If he is released from the WWE, it could be at some point this month. It's unlikely the WWE would use him at WrestleMania, and there is no storyline for him going into the Elimination Chamber PPV either.

So with that being said, Helms could be gone very soon. Especially with all the legal trouble he has been in.

While many would think that he is being released for the legal trouble, we should keep in mind that he allegedly asked for the release.

I say stay glued to WWE.com to see if he is gone. But for now this is all the news on Helms I can find and what I've heard from a few sources.

partial source for arrest news: TMZ

The following is from TMZ.com.

WWE Superstar Death—Vicodin and Valium

Former WWE Superstar Eddie Fatu aka Umaga —who died in December—was the victim of a bad combination of drugs, according to the Harris County Medical Examiner in Texas.

Dan Morgan, the supervisory forensic investigator for Harris County, blamed “acute toxicity”—claiming the combined effects of hydrocodone (aka Vicodin), carisoprodol (muscle relaxer), and diazepam (aka Valium) were responsible for the wrestler's death.

The death was ruled “accidental”—Fatu was 36.

According to the WWE, Fatu was released from his wrestling contract on June 11 for violating the WWE Wellness Program and for refusing to go to rehab.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/#ixzz0gxWp1pgQ

Credit: TMZ.com

Sourse:Seafood Salad Recipe

LAist catches Executive Chef Sascha Lyon in the kitchen at Delphine in the new W Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard. Lyon comes to LA with a pedigree, previously of Balthazar, Pastis and his own New York restaurant, Sascha. He brings with him bold flavors from the Mediterranean, specifically the South of France.

His goal is to offer affordable and accessable seafood in a non-seafood restaurant. So no captain's wheels, glass floats or netting on the walls. The decor is a little more Barbarella meets a millionaire (but cheats on him with Moondoggie.) The chef is all about consistency in the food while promoting a good time, and the W is definitely all about a good time. The joint was jumping on a Thursday night, and a number of partiers were enjoying pissaladiare and cocktails at Station, the comfortable patio area. The perfect place for a cuddle.

I love this seafood stew for being both simple and complicated at once. Few of us can achieve that dichotomy without substantial artifice, but this dish stumbles into it without effort. As my Marseilles cousin said to me when I described the recipe, “These are not the mussels of Marseilles.” Perhaps not in the traditional sense, but I've taken the essences of Marseilles that inspire me—the seafood, the pastis, the saffron, the garlic—and bubbled them into a light, spicy dish that is both warming and weightless.

The dish takes, from beginning to end, perhaps twenty minutes. The subterranean perfume of anise wafts up from the subtle, but present, pastis and fennel. The floral saffron and hot chilies add further depth of flavor to what is otherwise a simple pot of seafood. The clams leach their signature briny liquor, and add a sweet emphasis and contrast of texture to the quotidian mussels. It's a pot of mussels taken to new Provençal heights. And if you want to make this moules frites, I suggest you try it with sweet potato fries and some good crusty bread. Use the shells to spoon the hot broth into your mouth like a suppertime elixir—it's bright, fresh, and life-giving.

About the author: Kerry Saretsky is the creator of French Revolution Food, where she reinvents her family's classic French recipes in a fresh, chic, modern way. She also writes the The Secret Ingredient series for Serious Eats.

Marseilles-Style Spicy Mussels and Clams

- serves 2 to 4 -

Ingredients

2 tablespoon olive oil
3 shallots, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 fennel, thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup pastis
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon saffron
1 pound mussels
1 pound little neck clams
1 tablespoon butter, very cold
2 tablespoon fennel fronds, chopped
1 tablespoon chervil, chopped

Procedure

1. In a wide risotto pan, heat the olive oil over medium to medium-low heat and add the shallots, garlic, fennel, and chili flakes. Sauté until translucent, fragrant, and tender—about 5 minutes.

2. Add the tomatoes, and sauté another 3 minutes.

3. Add the pastis, and reduce.

4. Add the wine, and reduce.

5. Add the saffron, the mussels, and the clams, and raise the heat to high. Cover, and steam the seafood until it opens—about 5 minutes. Shake in the cold butter to make the sauce creamy.

6. Toss in the fennel fronds and chervil and serve immediately.

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Everyone gets sick once in a while. Itis expected. Therefore people have sick time at job. That's why there are physician and insurance companies. But there are a few basic things to make sure you stay in general perfect health. You should wash your hands. In general, not enough people do this. When taking the restroom. Investigations have been done and a shockingly low percentage of men and women wash their hands after taking the lavatory or before meals.

I always tell you: Consume water. Liquid cures all ills. Deprivation of water is the culprit of many general ill health like headaches and plus bloating. 8 cups of water is the minimum so be sure you're consuming at least that much. Think that fruits and vegetable juices count towards your daily scoop of hydrating beverages. Sport. Physical activity does not have to mean hours on the treadmill sweating away to exhaustion. Sport can be as easy as walking across the parking lot to the grocery store or doing housework. That's right! Vacuuming burns calories intake! The more active in basic you are the more exercise youare getting. Think getting a passometer. Passometer's have shown that people who wear pedometer's are more effective than those who do not.

If you're hungry all the time it can be hard to lose weight. These nutritious foods are some of the most filling. Adding these food into your diet can help fill you up, while providing you with vitamins and minerals you body needs to be healthy.

Healthy Eating vs. Fad Diets

Rather than spend extra money on a meal replacement plan or supplement, add these nutritious and filling foods to your diet. These items are common and easily attainable. They also won't burden your pocketbook.

Adding these filling and nutritious foods to help you lose weight is not a quick-fix diet or fad diet, it's a way to change your diet and lifestyle for the better, and for a lifetime.

5 Most Filling and Common Vegetables for Healthy Weight Loss

Most of these foods which provide fullness come from the fruit and vegetable groups and are most filling in their raw and natural states.

Cauliflower: A Filling and Common Vegetable for Healthy Weight Loss

One cup of raw cauliflower contains 25 calories, zero fat grams and two grams of protein and two grams of iron. Raw cauliflower is one of the most filling foods you can incorporate into your diet.

Raw cauliflower can be enjoyed with a low-fat yogurt dip, as an appetizer or snack. It can also be added to salad.

The downside to raw cauliflower is that cauliflower contains insoluble fiber and sulfur, both of which can cause discomfort for anyone with IBS, according to HelpforIBS.com.

Raw Celery: A Filling and Common Vegetable for Healthy Weight Loss

Raw celery is just as filling as cauliflower. It only has one gram of protein, but has nine percent Vitamin A , five percent Vitamin C, and four percent calcium, per cup.

Raw celery can be added to tuna fish, Waldorf, or chicken salad. Stick a stock of raw celery into a tomato-based health drink. Use it to mix the drink and eat it as a crunchy and healthy snack.

Fill the boat of the celery with low-fat or natural peanut butter, hummus or your favorite low-fat cream cheese.

Raw Mushrooms: A Filling and Common Vegetable for Healthy Weight Loss

One cup of raw, white mushrooms contains a mere 15 calories and no grams of fat. They also have two grams of protein and two grams of iron.

Raw mushrooms are another filling vegetable. They can be added to a warm Spinach salad, or eaten with any low-fat yogurt dip. Slice large, white mushrooms and add them to sandwiches. They go well with eggplant.

Stuff mushrooms with hummus or a chick pea and spice mix for a tasty appetizer.

Tip: Never wash mushrooms with water. Use a small brush or paper towel to brush off any dirt or debris. Cut the tip off the stem, but retain the stem. The stem is edible.

Zucchini: A Filling and Common Vegetable for Healthy Weight Loss

Zucchini is one of the most versatile vegetables on the list of most filling foods. Zucchini can be eaten raw as an appetizer, or added to a chopped salad or homemade veggie salsa.

One cup of cooked zucchini contains 28 calories, no fat, and one gram of protein. It also has 40 percent Vitamin A, 14 percent Vitamin C and four percent iron.

Zucchini could also be cut into long strips and broiled in the oven with balsamic vinegar or low-fat Italian dressing. Cut it into circles, or half circles and add it to any tomato sauce, soup or stew.

Tip: Do not peel the zucchini, which has a thin skin. Remove any blemishes or splits in the skin with a vegetable peeler.

Cooked Red Cabbage: A Filling and Common Vegetable for Healthy Weight Loss

One cup of this filling vegetable contains 44 calories and no fat. Nutritionally, it contains 2 grams of protein, and six percent each of iron and Vitamin A. It will also boost your immune system with its 86 percent Vitamin C. Make a warm red cabbage slaw to put in homemade chicken and peanut sauce burritos or to serve a s a side dish.

Note: Stewed tomatoes are also in the top list of foods for their filling and nutritious qualities. Because they are classified as tomatoes, they are not included here. While there is debate about the classification of tomatoes, there is no debate about their nutritive values.

Sources

Food and Nutrition Information Center, http://fnic.nal.usda.gov

Help for IBS, http://www.helpforibs.com

Nutrition Data, http://www.nutritiondata.com

World's Healthiest Foods, http://www.whfoods.com

Sydney, Jan 16 (IANS) Forget the food fads and ‘Take 10′ small steps to weight loss success – that’s the message from dietitians to the thousands who will make weight loss their goal this year.
“Fad and quick-fix weight loss programs often promise easy, no-effort weight loss. The reality is these programs can set people up to fail and damage their self-esteem in the process,” said Claire Hewat, CEO of Dieticians Association of Australia (DAA).

Clare Collins, associate professor of dietics, said: “A range of approaches can help you lose weight in the short term, but making small, permanent changes that fit with your lifestyle will give you the best chance of keeping weight off in the long term.”

Collins’ ‘Take 10′ tips for achieving or maintaining a healthy weight are:

1. Eat breakfast

2. Include vegetables or salad with lunch and dinner

3. Choose fruit as a snack

4. Replace full-fat food and drinks with reduced-fat alternatives

5. Choose wholegrain foods instead of more refined foods

6. Eat smaller serving sizes by using smaller plates and cups

7. Eat slowly and stop when you are satisfied, not stuffed full

8. Eat when you genuinely feel hungry, rather than for emotional or other reasons

9. Swap sweetened drinks such as cordial, soft drink and juice with water

10. Eat your evening meals at a dinner table with the TV turned off.

The DAA commissioned research was conducted by Newspoll market research nationally among 1,201 respondents aged 18 years and over. Interviews were conducted by telephone Nov 14-16, 2008, says a DAA release.

It found that 45.5 percent people had actively tried to lose weight during the 12 months prior to the survey, with 21.8 per cent of these people following a diet from a book or magazine and 16.4 per cent seeking advice from a dietitian.

First we obsess over stars’ “baby bumps,” then we shame the new moms into squeezing back into skinny jeans as quickly as possible. Katie Gentile on the double standard that hurts women.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is back in her “skinny jeans” just four weeks after giving birth to her daughter, reports Us Weekly. Ditto Ellen Pompeo, I read in People. Twice, Heidi Klum walked the Victoria Secret runway just six weeks after having a baby. Natalia Vodianova topped them all, taking to the catwalk a mere two weeks after giving birth.

In 2010, God help the celebrity who fails to shed the baby weight immediately, as she may end up on the wrong side of one of those ubiquitous “best and worst post-baby bodies” pictorials. It is chilling to watch the culture become more and more obsessed with babies, while the evidence of how these babies are created is removed from public view. The supermarket tabloids obsessively scope out “baby bumps,” cooing each time a C- or even D-lister conceives. But the second the bumps become bouncing bundles of joy, the pressure is on for the new mom to squeeze back into her skinny jeans. The post-baby body must banish the bump, or risk ridicule.

It’s as if we should actually believe the baby dropped from the stork, from the sky, from anywhere but that toned, buff body.

It used to be that People magazine confined news about pregnancy and babies to its “Milestones” section. Now baby obsession has changed the very structure of the magazine, giving us features such as “Mommy and Me Fashion,” “Celebrity Family Albums,” and the ever-popular rush to publish the first photos of celebrity spawn. Similarly, celebrity gossip magazines and blogs now devote entire sections to bump patrols, moms and babies (only occasionally dads), and a parade of post-baby body photos. In this “new” culture that seems to mix domestic ideals of the 1950s with the expanded opportunities of the 21st century, baby bumps—expanding breasts and bellies—are celebrated, photographed, tracked, and made an endless source of speculation. But we ignore the less attractive, yet all-too-real aspects of pregnancy: There are no swollen ankles, plump thighs, or puffy faces allowed on the red carpet.

Of course, intense scrutiny of women’s bodies is not new, and celebrity antics have long made for profitable media fodder, but the obsession with postpartum weight control is something new. These days, we rarely see a picture of a pregnant celebrity without the requisite estimation of weight gain, called “baby weight,” as if it is somehow separate from the mother’s body. The best way to get rid of it is breast-feeding, the tabloids tell us, claiming that lactation magically and effortlessly melts away pounds.

Yet as The New York Times recently noted, research is conflicting as to whether breast-feeding actually promotes weight loss. Breast-feeding may burn calories, but it also stimulates appetite, leading many women to eat more. The Mayo Clinic advises normal-weight, healthy women to exercise moderately and eat about 300 more calories per day while pregnant, gaining between 25 and 35 pounds over the course of the nine months. And Mayo advises women to lose only 1 postpartum pound per week in order to maintain solid nutrition. La Leche League advises that women not diet for the first 2 months after delivery to help their bodies recover and establish good milk flow.

Contrast this information with Us Weekly celebrating Ashlee Simpson-Wentz for sticking to her 1,500-calorie-a-day post-pregnancy diet, People discussing Liv Tyler’s postpartum fasting and colonics, or Ok magazine’s “Baby Weight Secrets,” which advise women to stick to fat- and carb-free diets and spend hours exercising daily.

It would be easy to see this obsession with post-baby weight control as just part and parcel of the usual misogynistic obsession with women’s weight. Female celebrities are under constant pressure to stay thin. But look at it another way: When women shed the baby weight, they are not merely getting back their pre-baby body, they are obliterating all the evidence of ever having had a baby in the first place. This means the one thing that only women’s bodies can do is expected to be immediately erased. The post-baby body is wrung of its recent life-giving feat. Sagging milk-filled breasts must appear perky; the once-swollen abdomen is made concave. It’s as if we should actually believe the baby dropped from the stork, from the sky, from anywhere but that toned, buff body.

Sources: rapid weight loss

By the end of Peyton Manning’s career, he should hold every meaningful record in the books. He certainly will be, and already is in the discussion, as being one of the all-time greats to play the position. But, if the Colts lose on Sunday, how much will it affect his legacy?

Rightfully, or wrongfully, when the discussion arises about who was the greatest quarterback to play the game, the biggest emphasis is put on how many championships did they win. Regardless of all the other records, all the other stats, this is the criterion that is used the most.

That is why Sunday’s game means so much when it comes to evaluating Manning’s career. Especially a career that has been marked by so many post-season losses, that for a long time there was speculation that Manning would end up like Dan Marino: a great quarterback that never won the big one.

In many ways, Manning has revolutionized the quarterback position. What he does at the line of scrimmage, his ability to read defenses, the fact that he is literally a quarterback and a coach out on the field, plus his god given ability to throw the football make him like no other.

This isn’t just coming from some writer sitting at his computer. This is something that has been talked about ad nauseam all week by his peers and coaches in the game. When, you hear it come from the likes of Hall of Fame Coach John Madden or Hall of Fame Quarterback Jim Kelley, it carries a lot of weight.

Still, to make the argument for greatest of all time, which a lot of Colts fans prematurely make on his behalf, the Colts must win on Sunday. That, and another Super Bowl win, plus all the above combined, would go a long way for making the case that Manning is the best to have ever played the position.

Ironically, even if Manning were to play horribly on Sunday, ala Ben Roethlisberger in Super Bowl XL, and the Colts won, it would still enhance his legacy, because most people won’t remember how he played after a few years anyway. That might be an indictment of how we evaluate greatness at the position, but that’s for another article.

If the Colts lose on Sunday, then yes, Manning’s legacy will take a blow. He definitely will still be talked about as one of the greats, he will still go to the Hall of Fame, and people may argue that he was the best to play the position from 1998 to whenever he hangs up his cleats; but with only one Super Bowl win, the argument for greatest of all time falls short.

Sunday’s game is more than another Super Bowl; it’s about Manning’s place in the history of the game.

Losing weight and getting fit preoccupied Americans in 2009:

• Nearly one out of two American women, including high school girls, were on a diet.

• Over 40 billion was spent on branded diet plans.

• Children as young as 9 to 11 years old were sometimes or very often dieting.

Yet an epidemic of obesity continues to affect more people than ever before:

• Less than a third of adults enjoyed normal weight.

• Children were two to three times more likely to be overweight today than they were 30 years ago.

Can we begin to reverse these worrisome trends in 2010?
We can if we update our old views with new ways to look at fitness in the coming year.

Old View: It's hopeless! Efforts to lose weight are inevitably doomed to fail. Even if a person manages to lose weight, he or she will eventually regain the weight and add back even more.

New View: You can do it! Strategies for making healthier choices involving diet, physical conditioning and improved self-care are available to you and can be learned. Championing this view is Kelly Brownell, Ph. D., who heads the LEARN Program for Weight Management at Yale University. And thanks to widespread access to the Internet, peer counseling in online communities is expanding. Internet support may include food and exercise diaries, weekly counseling, online weight-loss lessons and motivational phone calls.

Old View: Thin is in! Most individuals, especially women, seek to lose weight because they have internalized the media's ultrathin ideal.

New View: Healthy is in! Health is replacing vanity as the primary reason for pursuing fitness and weight loss. In 2009, researchers reported that four healthy habits could reduce or eliminate 80 percent of major medical problems: eating a healthy diet, not smoking, exercising regularly and maintaining a normal body weight. This insight, combined with rising medical costs, is triggering a focus on fitness.

Old View: If you are fat, you are a bad person. Obesity is a personal problem caused by a lack of willpower.

New View: Obesity is a disease that is treatable. The cost of providing medical care per person has skyrocketed from $356 in 1970 to $8,160 in 2009. Moreover, in 2009, the cost of treating obesity-related medical problems reached $147 billion. Given these costs, obesity has become a public health concern requiring a multifaceted community-based approach. In response, community leaders in Albert Lea, Minnesota, implemented a comprehensive lifestyle program to improve the health and longevity of the city's residents. To increase employee productivity and reduce health insurance costs and absenteeism, corporate wellness programs are proliferating.

Old View: Low-fat diets are required to lose weight. Eating fat makes a person fat. To lose weight, a dieter needs to stick with low- or no-fat foods.

New View: Total calories actually determine weight. The total calories consumed by a person, whether from carbs, fats or proteins, determines weight. Since the goal is a balanced diet, the Mediterranean diet, which includes healthy fats, is recommended by the Mayo Clinic and the American Heart Association as a nutritionally sound and healthy eating plan. Nuts, which until recently were on dieters' “do not eat” lists, are making a comeback because of their health benefits, especially almonds, walnuts, cashews, pecans and macadamia nuts. Momentum is growing for mandating information on the caloric content of fast foods and food products.

Photo courtesy of everystockphoto.com

Old View: Medical intervention is needed. Weight-loss drugs or bariatric surgery can solve the problem of surplus pounds for many people, and advances in medicine can address obesity-related problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

New View: A healthy lifestyle is the best way. Prevention, rather than treatment of obesity-related medical problems, will move to the forefront because of the rising cost of medical insurance and healthcare. While the number of bariatric surgeries will continue to skyrocket, family physicians will increasingly write exercise prescriptions in lieu of drug prescriptions.

Old View: Ignore overweight children. Children who are overweight will outgrow their chubbiness, so kids' surplus pounds can be ignored.

New View: Help overweight children now! Dr. Robert Murray, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on School Health, is alarmed that nearly half of kids and teens are overweight or obese and, as a consequence, children's life expectancies are lower than their parents'. Treating childhood obesity is a serious medical problem that if ignored will place the child at risk for heart disease, diabetes and other serious medical conditions.

Old View: Don't ask, don't tell. Asking employees to modify their unhealthful behavior is an invasion of privacy and violates employees' right to choose their own lifestyle.

New View: Offer help, incentives and access to experts. In 2008, medical insurance premiums reached a record $15,609 for a family of four. Employers are proactively seeking to reduce costs (medical insurance, workers' compensation claims and absenteeism) by restructuring benefit programs. In increasing numbers, employees are being offered incentives to quit smoking or lose weight. They face penalties if they refuse to change habits that drive up the cost of healthcare.

Old View: Hard-core exercise one hour daily. Going to a gym daily for a 60-minute workout on a treadmill and resistance equipment is the best way to exercise.

New View: Diversity, fun and enjoyment. Thanks to popular television programs, dancing for fitness is back, particularly Zumba, a one-hour workout that fuses Latin rhythms with calorie-burning dance movements. Exergaming, such as Wii and Dance Dance Revolution, continues to grow in popularity with young and old alike. Michelle Obama has made the Hula-Hoop popular once again. The use of technologically sophisticated feedback gadgets, from pedometers to heart monitors, will expand. To attract members to the gym during tough economic times, more fitness centers will offer cardio cinema so members can watch a movie while exercising.

Will we continue to get fatter until 2018 when, according to research by Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, of Emory University, 40 percent of us will be obese (and another 33 percent overweight)?

If we are to succeed in reversing the obesity trends and mounting medical care costs, we'll have to find new approaches. And the more readily we learn from the past and update our understanding of the complex nature and causes of obesity, the more quickly we can successfully move into a healthy future.

weight diets

Here are steps to easy and effective weight loss for men of all ages. I'm a certified personal trainer and have worked with many men ranging from 20-something to 60-something. It's generally harder for an aged man to lose weight than a 20-something, simply because the 50-year-old man, who's never exercised before, will be at much higher risk of injury from strenuous exercise, than is the young man who's never exercised. But this does not mean that easy and effective weight loss for older men is beyond reach.

If a man can no longer run due to knee problems, he can still lose weight effectively through other exercise. Even a man who's not very strong anymore can still push hard at the gym and trigger weight loss. It's about putting your body through exercise routines that it is not accustomed to. And, for easy and effective weight loss for men, it's also about doing weight lifting and cardio exercise the RIGHT way.

Let's start with the treadmill. You would not believe how many men, of all ages, hang onto this equipment while walking. No wonder their big gut never shrinks. The rule with treadmills is to walk on them as you would if walking outdoors somewhere. This means upright posture and an arm swing. The arm swing need not be exaggerated, but that arm swing, over time, will contribute to calories burned. Effective weight loss from treadmill work will only come when you swing the arms, rather than hold to the treadmill. In fact, the calorie burn rate (i.e., weight loss) between swinging arms and holding to the treadmill is a whopping 20 percent!

For more info on correct treadmill use, read 10 Reasons Never to Hold onto Treadmill. And when doing any kind of cardio exercise, men should employ an exercise technique called High Intensity Interval Training.

Men who wish to lose weight should commit to exercising six days a week, but resistance training and cardio exercise should be done on separate days. This means it's not necessary to sit on the bike for 30 minutes before you pick up the dumbbells. Men with some conditioning, especially young men, can lift hard and heavy. This will create effective weight loss for men of all ages. Heavy strength training exercises will burn fat like crazy. Don't worry about bulking up because this won't happen unless you are deliberately training for it. Limit strength training exercises to one hour unless you really enjoy it; then you can exercise longer.

Lifting heavy means choosing a weight or machine resistance that you can barely, barely do 8-12 repetitions. This is the fat-eating range.

Get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. If this makes you laugh, then get serious and see what activities you can give up to make this sleep quota. For instance, see if you can quit work after eight hours. Workaholics often struggle with extra weight and have difficulty losing that weight. Cut back on TV or buy a treadmill and place it in the TV room while you watch your must-see program.

If a man has kids, he should spend more time doing physical activities with them. A chubby man where I live spends every single night outside for 60-90 minutes, literally standing still or sitting on the cul-de-sac curb, while his three very young daughters pedal bikes in the cul-de-sac. Imagine the difference in weight loss for this man's blubber belly if he spent some of that time racing his daughters, or walking or trotting at their side.

For effective and easy weight loss for men, EAT BREAKFAST, and I don't mean bratwursts, bacon and English muffins soaked in butter. Effective weight loss for men can be easy with a nutritious breakfast. Eat something every three hours, to stoke metabolism, that will help with weight loss, such as fruit, salads, soup, yogurt, grilled chicken or a protein bar. Finally, for losing weight, a man should drink 6-8 glasses of water a day, if for no other reason than to feel less hungry.

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In a new study published in the Annals of InternalMedicine and funded by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Health Care and Quality Research (AHRQ), it was determined that certain oral diabetes drugs do not lead to an increase in weight or bad cholesterol.

The study was conducted by Shari Bolen, Clinical Fellow at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland and Frederick L. Brancati, Professor of Medicine, also at Johns Hopkins.

The aim of the study was to gather evidence to objectively evaluate the current oral agents available for the treatment of diabetes.

According to the American Diabetes Association, type 2 diabetes, is the most common form of the disease and accounts for 90 to 95% of all new diagnosed cases of diabetes. It usually occurs in adults over 40 that tend to be overweight. Diabetics have difficulty in converting glucose (sugar) into energy because their cells do not make insulin (type 1) or are resistant to it (type 2).

As per the report, the research team wanted to review the known literature and assess the benefits and harms of oral agents in the treatment of adults with type 2 diabetes.

To conduct a comprehensive review, the team evaluated the majority of drug classes that are currently available and that include, second-generation sulfonylureas, biguanides, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), meglitinides, and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors.

The research team was able identify 216 controlled trials and cohort studies and 2 systematic reviews that specifically evaluated the benefits and adverse effects of oral diabetes drugs.

In the report, the research team stated that they were unable to make conclusions regarding the use of specific drugs and major clinical end points such as mortality. However, they were able to make distinctive assessments with respect to other clinical effects.

In their review, they found that oral agents such as the TZDs, Metformin, and Repaglinide, were able to control glucose levels as well as most sulfonylureas, but slightly better than products such as Nateglinide and alpha-glucosidase inhibitors.

With respect to cholesterol, they found that although the TZDs had a beneficial effect on HDLs (good cholesterol), they also unfortunately had a negative effect with respect to LDLs (bad cholesterol). The TZD's also posed a higher risk for heart failure as compared to the other diabetes drugs.

The research team found that Metformin effectively decreased LDL cholesterol in patients with diabetes an average of 0.26 mmol/L. The other oral drugs did not have any lowering effects on LDLs.

Perhaps the most interesting finding was that, with the exception of Metformin, most of the drugs increased the weight of diabetic patients anywhere from 1 to 5 kg (2.2 to 11 pounds). Metformin, however, was associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal problems and lactic acidosis (in people with non-complicated diabetes).

With respect to adverse effects, the sulfonylureas and Repaglinide had a higher risk of inducing hypoglycemia (low glucose levels) as compared to the other oral agents.

In the AHRQ press release, Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, Director of this agency stated that “as more people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and with the growing array of treatment choices, this is a landmark review. This summary of scientific evidence is not only an important tool for clinicians and patients seeking the most appropriate therapy, but it also points out in what areas we need more research to confront this disease.”

The researchers were also able to provide a comprehensive synopsis detailing the effectiveness, risks, and estimated costs for 10 diabetes drugs. They included, acarbose (Precose), glimepiride (Amaryl), glipizide (Glucotrol), glyburide (Micronase, DiaBeta, Glynase PresTab), metformin (Glucophage, Riomet, Fortamet), miglitol (Glyset), nateglinide (Starlix), pioglitazone (Actos), repaglinide (Prandin), and rosiglitazone (Avandia). For the full report please see: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200709180-00178v1

Sources:

Annals of Internal Medicine: http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200709180-00178v1

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2007/effdiabpr.htm

American Diabetes Association: http://www.diabetes.org/about-diabetes.jsp

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I have had to unfortunately become very knowledgeable about Alzheimer's Disease since my mom's diagnosis in 2008. There is so much information available that it can be very overwhelming. According to the Alzheimer's Association approximately 5.3 million people in the U.S. are living with Alzheimer's, every 70 seconds someone will develop Alzheimer's, and Alzheimer's is the seventh-leading cause of death.

One of the more helpful things I've learned about this disease is the seven stages of progression in Alzheimer's. To me this has actually been fascinating. I'm pretty sure my mom is current at stage 5. I can actually see how she has progressed through the first four stages. Here is the list of these seven stages of Alzheimer's Disease, pursuant to the Alzheimer's Association, and some information about what a family may need to do as their loved-one progresses through the stages of Alzheimer's.

Stage 1: No impairment. At this point, nobody is aware of any disease, not the individual with Alzheimer's, their friends, family or doctors, so no action can be taken.

Stage 2: Very slight Decline. This is stage where the individual may start to forget the little things, like misplace some items, forget certain words. However, you may not realize that there is an issue with this person, especially if they're elderly. Most of the time, these changes wouldn't even be apparent to a doctor. But if the individual is in their 50s or 60s you may have a slight inkling that something's going on with the person. I know, in my situation, we started noticing some changes in my mom, and this is when we all started keeping an eye on things. Looking back, this was probably around the time she started having problems at her job too.

Stage 3: Slight decline. At this point, the disease may be able to be diagnosed by a medical professional. Also, at this stage family and friends are definitely noticing a change in behavior. We noticed, in my mom, that she wasn't being as social as she used to be and she was having a lot of difficulty with space and time. For the life of us, we couldn't figure out what was going on. She would go to reach for a coffee cup and totally miss it. In fact, any time she would reach for something, she would miss it. She was also having problems with money. She was spending way more money that she had ever spent in her entire life. She was always very frugal and now she was going on huge shopping sprees. At this point, we realized it was time to take over her finances. Also, it was time for outside help, as there was no family in the area to help take care of her.

Stage 4: Mild or early stage moderate decline. By this time, the individual has probably been to several neurologists and other doctors and has been given their Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis. My mom got her diagnosis at this stage. In my situation, this is when we decided that my mom would be better off and safer living in an assisted living facility. One of the changes I've noticed, in my mom, is now she can't handle loud noises. It seems so strange because growing up, we were always a loud family, and now she can't handle the noise. Most likely, at this stage, the individual can't take care of day to day activities and you certainly don't want them to be cooking and trying to get in and out of a shower.

Stage 5: Moderate or mid-stage severe decline. Unfortunately, the person who you once knew is starting to disappear. There are some days when they're still there, but most of the time now you're dealing with a whole new person. The kind of care they need will be increasing too. We've had to move my mom to an Alzheimer's and Dementia Residence because she needed more care than the assisted living facility could give her. At this stage, the individual will have trouble with the most basic activities and needs pretty much constant supervision. My mom does a lot of talking about going “home” because she doesn't like her new place. I've heard this is very common for Alzheimer's patients at this stage. Home symbolizes comfort and familiarity and that's what they want.

Stage 6: Severe decline (moderately severe or mid-stage). Some of the things you will notice, at this stage, are confusion of their surroundings, having problems remembering historical events, may start forgetting individuals close to them, sleep problems, incontinence problems, needing help with all daily activities, and may suffer from behavioral symptoms, including paranoia and delusions, and wandering.

Stage 7: Very severe decline (severe or late stage). This is the final stage of the disease. At the point, most likely the individuals will have lost their capacity for coherent speech. On occasion, they may say something if prompted several times. At this stage, the individual will have to be helped with every basic task, like feeding, dressing, sitting, and bathing, their muscles will be become rigid and seize-up. In addition, swallowing starts becoming a problem.

Sources:

Personal Experience
Alzheimer's Association (alz.org)

Last news onmen's health

Washington, January 16 (ANI): Down syndrome, artery-clogging cardiovascular disease appear to share a common disease mechanism with Alzheimer’s disease, says a new research.

Principal investigator Huntington Potter and colleagues at the Florida Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, made the link after studying mice and humans cell cultures modelling Alzheimer’s disease.

Antoneta Granic and team in their study “Alzheimer Ab Peptide Induces Chromosome Mis-segregation and Aneuploidy, including Trisomy 21; Requirement for Tau and APP,” published in Molecular Biology of the Cell, provided the mechanism behind previous work by Potter’s laboratory showing that all Alzheimer’s disease patients harbour some cells with three copies of chromosome 21, known as trisomy 21, a characteristic shared by all the cells in people with the birth defect Down syndrome.

Potter and team now show that the Alzheimer’s-associated amyloid protein is the culprit that interferes with the microtubule transport system inside cells.

He said: “Alzheimer’s disease probably is caused in part from the continuous development of new trisomy 21 nerve cells, which amplify the disease process by producing extra beta amyloid.”

Jose Abisambra and colleagues, in the paper “LDLR Expression and Localization Are Altered in Mouse and Human Cell Culture Models of Alzheimer’s Disease,” published in PLoS ONE, pointed another consequence of the damaged microtubule network caused by the amyloid protein.

They found that as a consequence, the receptor needed to pull low-density lipoprotein (LDL) circulating throughout the bloodstream into the body’s cells has trouble getting to the cell surface to retrieve this bad cholesterol. This interference with LDL metabolism may allow bad cholesterol to build up in into plaques that choke off blood supply to the brain and heart in people with Alzheimer’s, Dr. Potter said.

Similarly, other key proteins – including insulin receptors and receptors for brain signaling molecules — are also likely locked inside cells when the transport system is damaged by amyloid or other factors. “The insulin receptors are needed to get blood sugar inside the cell where it can be used for energy. The nerve cell signaling receptors help promote memory and learning,” Dr. Potter said. “So, if these receptors are unable to function properly, it may lead to diabetes and problems with learning and memory.”

“We’re beginning to understand how conditions like cardiovascular disease and diabetes may manifest some of the same underlying disease processes as Alzheimer’s disease,” he said, “rather than being independent diseases that just happen to develop in the same patient.” (ANI)

Washington, Jan 7 (ANI): Talking on the cell phone can actually be good for health, for a new study has shown that long term exposure can protect against, and even reverse, Alzheimer’s disease.

Led by University of South Florida researchers, the study showed that exposure to electromagnetic waves reversed memory impairment in mice.

“It surprised us to find that cell phone exposure, begun in early adulthood, protects the memory of mice otherwise destined to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms,” said lead author Dr Gary Arendash, USF Research Professor at the Florida ADRC. “It was even more astonishing that the electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones actually reversed memory impairment in old Alzheimer’s mice.”

The researchers showed that exposing old Alzheimer’s mice to electromagnetic waves generated by cell phones erased brain deposits of the harmful protein beta-amyloid, in addition to preventing the protein’s build-up in younger Alzheimer’s mice.

The sticky brain plaques formed by the abnormal accumulation of beta amyloid are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Most treatments against Alzheimer’s try to target beta-amyloid.

Based on promising findings in mice, researchers concluded that electromagnetic field exposure could be an effective, non-invasive and drug-free way to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s disease in humans.

They are currently evaluating whether different sets of electromagnetic frequencies and strengths will produce more rapid and even greater cognitive benefits than those found in their current study.

“If we can determine the best set of electromagnetic parameters to effectively prevent beta-amyloid aggregation and remove pre-existing beta amyloid deposits from the brain, this technology could be quickly translated to human benefit against AD,” said USF’s Chuanhai Cao, PhD, the other major study author.

The study is published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. (ANI)

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US President said to the American Medical Association in an attempt to get the organization's members on board with his plans for healthcare reform. Meanwhile, the problem of healthcare reorganization is a difficult topic in Congress, and the way to legislation is of course to be not short and accompanied with much debate. So, to help Washington in the process, or ultimately to keep the politicians sane with a little amusement, we've come up with a little healthcare free downloads movies marathon .

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