By bsekula, on January 12th, 2008
January 11, 2008
This article, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association concludes that heart disease risk may increase with a lack of Vitamin D. The benefits of Vitamin D and cancer prevention (bone health too!) have been known for years. In June of last year, I had a blog post regarding this. Actually, the benefits of Vitamin D have been known for a while. Read this excellent post by Dr. Mark Hyman for more details. There are many others who espouse the benefits of Vitamin D – too many to list here. So let’s get to the article. “Vitamin D deficiency is associated with increased cardiovascular risk, above and beyond established cardiovascular risk factors,” said Thomas J. Wang, M.D., assistant professor
of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. “The higher risk associated with vitamin D deficiency was particularly evident among individuals with high blood pressure.”
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More than 1,700 offspring . . . → Read More: Is Vitamin D really that important?
By bsekula, on January 8th, 2008
January 8, 2008
The American College of Sports Medicine published it’s fitness trends report for 2008 in December of last year.
A pdf version of the article is here: http://www.informz.net/acsm/data/images/worldwidetrends.pdf
In surveying nearly 2,000 fitness professionals throughout the world and corroborating with internationally known fitness experts, a list of 20 fitness trends was identified. I’m giving you the top 10 and adding my comments to each.
Take a look and let me know what you think. Are your New Year’s Resolutions aligned with any of these trends? Are you a member of a health club or fitness center that offers services like these? Do you have access to these services?
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Number 1: Educated and Experienced Fitness Professionals
There is currently no regulation of Certifying agencies for fitness professionals. Anyone can offer a “Personal Trainer” cerfitication and not have standards to meet. However, more and more certifying organizations and schools are becoming accredited. This is great. . . . → Read More: Fitness Trends for 2008
By bsekula, on August 9th, 2007
If you are in the health care industry, whether it be pharmaceuticals, medicine, research, administration, or you’re just interested in your own health and wonder what others think, read this article. If you’re somewhat skeptical of medicine, health care and big pharma, and you think the health care system needs revamping, you really should read this. It’s long but very . . . → Read More: Read This!
By bsekula, on July 18th, 2007
From the American Heart Association…
“Research shows that when properly supervised and prescribed in the light of a patient’s history and condition, whether they have cardiovascular disease or not, resistance training increases muscular strength, endurance, independence, and ability to perform a large range of activities. It reduces disability and enhances quality of life. Other benefits include increase in bone mineral density and lean body mass.”In their recently updated public statement (a full pdf version can be found here) on weight lifitng and heart disease, the AHA has recommended doctors encourage their patients to participate in strength training exercise. Anyone in the fitness industry worth their credentials on the wall could have told you this years ago. I don’t know how many older clients I’ve trained that walked at least twice as fast once their session was over compared to when it started – no comments about trying to get away from me . . . → Read More: Resistance training good for heart health?
By bsekula, on July 11th, 2007
Exercise is good. Inflammation in the body is bad! – it’s significantly related to a whole host of cardiovascular diseases.The most frequently measured biomarker of inflammation in the body is C-reactive protein (CRP). High levels of CRP indicate high levels of inflammation. Essential fatty acids (Omega 3′s, for example) are known to reduce inflammation – so eat some fresh, Wild Salmon today . Other foods known to reduce inflammation are fresh fruits and vegetables, like berries, grapes, celery and avocadoes (there are more but that’s a quick list). Green tea has some anti-inflammatory characteristics too. Fitness has been shown to be inversely related to CRP, the more fit you are the less CRP in your bloodstream. What hasn’t been very well understood, however, is the mechanism that’s in play. For example, if you are highly fit and have low CRP levels, is that because you are fit or are the . . . → Read More: Why exercise is good!
By bsekula, on June 13th, 2007
According to this summary and proponents of vitamin D, yes your risk of cancer (and many other diseases) can be significantly reduced with normal levels of vitamin D. But what does that have to do with sunlight, you ask?Good question. After all, cancer institutes, dermatological societies and even sunscreen manufacturers extoll the benefits of sunscreen and limited exposure for skin health. Skin cancer is dangerous and can be fatal. So if sunlight is the main culprit, how can it be helpful?Our bodies make vitamin D when exposed to the sun. In fact, significant rises can be seen in as little as 15-20 minutes. But there is a catch…Get a daily dose without sunscreen…it blocks vitamin D production. How much exposure? At least 15 minutes and some say up to 1 hr. Any more than that and you will need the . . . → Read More: Can a daily dose of sunlight prevent cancer?
By bsekula, on June 7th, 2007
“Scientists in Indiana are reporting progress toward development of low glycemic and slowly digestible starch, a form of starch that would be less apt to cause the spike in blood sugar – and perhaps sharp hunger pangs – that many individuals experience after eating bread, baked goods, and other high-carbohydrate foods.”
The rest of the summary can be read here.
My only question is why?
I can understand the need for people to consume healthier foods – particularly than those listed in the quote above. But what if we just ate less of that food and more fruits and vegetables, healthier meats and drank more water? What if we just ate grains as they grow in the field?
Look in your pantry. Foods in plastic bags and carboard boxes are loaded with things that used to be good, healthy foods. Take enriched white flour for example. Out in the field, its a perfectly healthy . . . → Read More: Why do they do this?
By bsekula, on June 7th, 2007
A recent study presented at the Endocrine Society Annual meeting suggested that males over 50 with low testosterone had a 33% greater risk of all-cause mortality than those who had higher levels of testerone. Low testosterone was identified as the lower-limit found in healthy young males.The study followed 800 men for 18 years on average, a large sample size for a very long period of time. The low testosterone group had the following characteristics:
higher levels of inflammation markers, which contribute to several forms of cardiovascular disease
larger waist measurement (greater than 40 inches)
metabolic syndrome – low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood sugars and hypertension.
Over the 18-year period, men in the low-testosterone group had a 33% greater risk from all-cause mortality than the normal / high testosterone group. This is a stout finding given the characteristics of the study, indicating that even if problems exist in methodology the results are likely . . . → Read More: Is your testosterone low?
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